In an endeavour to revive the gems and jewellery exports, GJEPC has initiated a series of buyer-seller meets (BSMs) for every product category. Beginning with loose diamonds, it will be a one to one focussed meet.

Each meet will be of 40 minutes, 10 visitors and 10 exhibitors will participate. Most of the visitors are from China – as the market is already open and the Chinese are ordering goods from India. GJEPC has done its own research for these BSMs.They have used augmented reality software and their virtual format is unique.

GJPEC is trying to make it better than real life meets.They have ensured that communication will be routed through servers, so it will be secure. Colin Shah, Chairman, GJEPC; Suresh Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce; Senthil Nathan,Deputy Secretary in the Department of Commerce and Dilip Shah participated in the inaugural session.

In his opening remarks, Suresh Kumar, Joint Secretary, MOC & I congratulated the Council’s efforts and said, “Virtual buying-selling formats will be the new normal going forward. As we do not know how fast this scenario is going to change, and we cannot wait for the pandemic to go away, so it’s prudent to shift to a virtual platform through which buyers and sellers can continue doing business in confidentiality with secured measures. I’m happy that this is one of India’s most promising sectors in terms of merchandise exports. Although the trade has been hit because of the pandemic, we should capitalise on every growth opportunity, especially since green shoots of revival are visible in markets like the USA, China, and Europe. This is a great new beginning for the sector which must continue using this virtual platform extensively and make it a part of your regular marketing activity to connect with buyers from different countries and sectors.”

Colin Shah, Chairman, GJEPC addressing at the Inauguration, “It’s a historic shift for GJEPC to conduct the first ever virtual buyer-seller meet. The pandemic has forced us to think out of the box. We went through several options on the technology front and we finally selected one that is proprietary and unique. We are really hoping that our manufacturers and traders on the diamond side are able to actually transact business without dilution in their experience. Although the pandemic has taken its toll, there have been good positives, markets like America and China are coming back strongly and this should translate into recovery of exports for us. Supply of rough was constrained so the polished prices remained stable.”