“Made in Italy” jewellery urged to establish an identity
VICENZA, Italy, January 15, 2011 – As the VicenzaOro First trade fair opened, a top Indian executive appealed to “Made in Italy” jewellers to establish a clear identity and to communicate better to the world what makes Italian fine jewellery special.
At a round table discussion at the inuguration ceremony, Mehul Choksi, Chairman of Gitanjali, said, “You (in Italy) have innovation of designs. You are years ahead in designing. Where the Italian sector is losing out is in communicating with the world.”
Choksi added, “Look at Swiss watches. They have made an identity for themselves. You need to communicate the (Made in Italy) product.”
He appealed to Vicenza Fair to help Italian jewellery manufacturers to raise awareness of their brands. Italy is a leading exporter of gold and silver jewellery.
“You need to help companies develop a marketing and distribution strategy, communicating about the brands,” Choksi said.
Roberto Ditri, President of the Vicenza fair, said in his opening speech that Italian jewellery manufacturers needed to innovate to boost market share and to adapt to a changing competitive environment.
“Vicenza Fair is looking in two directions,” Ditri said.
“The first involves driving forward innovation in all fields, favouring new alliances,” he added.
“The second involves adapting to the new rules of global competition, otherwise risk being marginalised.”
According to the latest figures from Vicenza fair and Italian statistics agency ISTAT, Italian gold jewellery exports rose 26.2 percent year-on-year in value terms in the first nine months of 2010, representing a total turnover of 3.2 billion euros.
The main markets for exports of Italian gold jewellery were the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, the United States, France and Hong Kong respectively.
VicenzaOro First runs until January 20, 2011.
