Jewellery plays a key role in economic development, CIBJO President says
PARIS, June 2016 – While jewellery is a luxury product, the jewellery and gemstone sectors are essential to the economic and social development of economies and communities around the world, CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri said at the Rendez-Vous Gemmologiques de Paris.
The gathering in mid-June, which was hosted by the Association Française de Gemmologie, and moderated by its President, Didier Giard, reviewed gemstone mines and mining districts, considering the ethics of sustainable development of mining territories and their populations.
“The jewellery business and the revenue it generates are critical to the economic fortunes of many countries around the world, and especially those where diamonds, gemstones and precious metals are mined,” Dr Cavalieri said in his address to the opening session.
“In those places it is able to create sustainable economic opportunities, which in turn promote and support positive social development,” he added.
“Jewellery, which is typically classed as a luxury product, is to many people symbolic of conspicuous consumption. However, if we can instil in the public consciousness the understanding that, when you purchase an item of jewellery, you also are contributing to the economic wellbeing and social advancement of people living in underdeveloped areas, then the significance of buying and receiving jewellery is elevated – from one of purely personal value to one with societal value as well.”
