Thailand’s Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) organized a webinar to discuss potential business opportunities between the Indian and Thai jewelry industries post COVID-19, as well as to promote the new version of the Bangkok Gems & Jewelry Fair (BGJF).
The webinar attracted leading players in the gems and jewelry sector from Thailand and India. Its purpose was to discover ways to promote cooperation between the two countries.
Jittima Nakamano, Director of the Thai Trade Centre in Chennai, said, “COVID-19 has impacted the gems and jewelry industry around the world, due to the lockdown, social distancing, and reduced demand for gems and jewelry. From January to April 2020, the export value of Thailand’s gems and jewelry products (excluded unwrought gold) declined by 25.31% to US$1.77 billion, compared with the same period the previous year.”
However, Ms Nakamano was confident that with no COVID-19 cases currently in Thailand, the country’s gems and jewelry industry would bounce back stronger than ever.
“With the support of the Thai government, we are aggressively pushing export activities to India, Japan, the United States and the Middle East,” she said, adding that the DITP had remained at the forefront of the country’s efforts to support its gems and jewelry industry, especially its exports.
Due to the current global climate, the DITP was focusing on transforming the event into a new version.
“Because of COVID-19, we have to adjust ourselves and use online platforms to promote Thailand’s gems and jewelry industry,” Ms Nakamano said.
The DITP had instigated programmes to support many SMEs and MSMEs within the industry.
“We have marketing programmes and several training programmes to make Thailand a regional hub in the sector,” Ms Nakamano said.
Thailand was set to go ahead with a new version of the Bangkok Gems & Jewelry Fair (BGJF) 2020.
BGJF will represent the most comprehensive online jewellery trade fair in ASEAN, organizers said.
Adopting the theme, Thailand’s Magic Hands, the BGJF will highlight the skills of Thailand’s master gems and jewelry craftspeople, with a specific focus on colored gemstones, precious and semi-precious stones, as well as silver jewelry.
Jiira Silver Jewelry
