In his address, Chief Guest, diamantaire Arunkumar Mehta, Chairman of Rosy Blue (India) and B.Arunkumar Group of Companies who inaugurated the show, emphasised that only sustained generic promotions could bring back the shine to the jewellery industry, as reported in gjepc.org.
Welcoming the guests, Chairman of GJEPC Pramod Agarwal said that the new Committee had recently met the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and would soon be presenting a plan to the government for the promotion of Indian jewellery under Brand India in the global markets.
Agarwal highlighted some of the areas where Council was working closely with the government to upgrade smaller units in the jewellery sector, for example, setting up Common Facility Centres at various places across the country to boost access to technology and enable the smaller artisans to upgrade their skills and product quality. Setting up Help Desks in Council offices may provide advice for industry members to boost exports; strengthening the infrastructure of Indian gemmological labs so that their certificates gain international acceptance, and enhancing the network of design insitutes across the country.
Shailesh Sangani, Convener–National Exhibitions, GJEPC, said that the show could help the industry players prepare for the expected growth in demand for jewellery that may result from government's steps to boost rural incomes and enhance employment. He said that the show this year was much bigger.
"Enough trading which has been done at this show. 2018 will be a good year. We do not expect any hurdles to come up. And whatever issues the industry faces are being sorted out with the Government and the relevant authorities,” Sangani concluded.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished