The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has organised the ‘India Gold & Jewellery Summit’, scheduled over November 23-24, 2018,   which is currently underway in New Delhi.

The summit was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Minister for Commerce & Industry, Government of India, Shri Suresh Prabhu.  The Commerce  Secretary, Dr. Anup Wadhawan also attended the event, which has also attracted a wide array of stakeholders of the gold jewellery industry.

In his welcome address at the inaugural function, GJEPC Chairman Pramod Agrawal noted that India, which is the world leader in the polished diamonds market, has now set itself the goal of  increasing jewellery exports. “I am confident that the gold jewellery industry can achieve a much greater share of  the international market with the support of the Government.”

Expounding on the idea further, he said: “The industry has the skill and ability, the Government needs to support us with an enabling policy framework to ensure India remains on par with competing countries.”

Spelling out the requirements of an enabling policy framework he listed a few important points that need to be addressed by the Government. These are:

•  Reduction of  import duty on gold to 4%
•  Boosting  hallmarking of  jewellery to be on par with international standards
• Need for department to formulate a gold policy and to have extensive interaction with jewellery industry to understand its needs; and setting up a mechanism for the same
• Package of inputs for technical upgradation of jewellery industry  such  as Jewellery Parks, CFCs, training institutes etc.  

Agrawal also welcomed the  recent policy packages declared for the MSME sector by the Government.

Hon’ble Shri Prabhu stressed that the summit represented   a very important gathering of all the stakeholders to discuss a Plan of Action for boosting the gold and gold jewellery sector.

“It is a very large and traditional industry, with a nationwide network,” Shri Prabhu remarked. “The ministry is working towards setting up a Gold Council and formulating an integrated gold policy to take this industry to the next level.”

The Minister stressed that there needs to be an upscaling in size of operations and upgradation of the quality of the product, to  make this happen; and added that he was confident that exports from this sector can grow.  

“Product and raw materials must conform to international standards,” he said, assuring those present that the Government on its part will provide all necessary support.

Enumerating some of the plans on the anvil, he said: “We have market research-based plans for developing new markets. We have partnership agreements with various goverments and these can be used for developing the jewellery industry. For example, we are talking to the Russian government  to develop a system for raw material imports of  gold and diamond in a manner that it will not impact our Balance of Payments position.”

Once the necessary plans are in place, Shri Prabhu said, that would result in increase in  exports; and also boost economic growth and employment.

“The Ministry of Commerce is  working closely with the Skill Development Ministry to boost employment and create a trained workforce,” he said. “We are also talking to banks and the Ministry  of Finance to make sure that the  industry will not be starved of the requisite funds.”

Commerce Secretary Dr. Wadhawan addressing the gathering said: “The gold jewellery industry has retained all its traditional practices and strengths and withstood the trials and tribulations of changing time. There is a need now to consolidate   and move forward by identifying elements that will help us prepare for the future.”

Citing technological upgradation as one of the factors which could aid the future thrust, he said: “We need to create a climate for this change  by facilitating it and, possibly, also incentivising it. This must happen without compromising on traditional strength.”

Dr. Wadhawan went on to say: “Change is needed in areas such as brand building, new product development, and in identifying  new markets. Also, many aspects of the business are not yet centred in India. We can try to advance in these fields for example, trading of rough, development of an India Gold Delivery Standard for gold etc.”

He stressed that there was a need to address these gaps both at policy and infrastructure levels.

“The Government is committed to support all efforts taken by industry,” he said reiterating the Minister’s words. “However, we cannot forget that this is a sensitive sector with high value and low volume. There are some structural factors we can't ignore, so the regulatory factors are crucial and it is necessary to balance regulatory concerns with ease of doing business.”

Dr. Wadhawan, also cautioned the industry saying: “Due to some deviant players all are suffering, so industry too needs to give importance to self regulation and encourage good practices and systems to create accountability among members. The industry must  introspect on this.”

World Gold Council (WGC) CEO Aram Shishmanian, who also spoke at the inaugural session, said: “There have been many changes in the global gold market that will have far reaching impact.”  

He said that central banks are buyers again, and are making purchases on a large scale.   

“India is the largest consumer, but not adequately represented in trading and influencing industry movement,” Shishmanian noted. “It is a leader of deployment of technology in many other industries, and can bring those skills to gold also.”

He observed that there was a need to organise the market and make it more transparent using technology and that the new generation needs to know about sourcing. 

“Household investors are looking for new systems and safe instruments for investment,”  Shishmanian said. “India can play a role in fulfilling these demands.”

He added: “India must also increase its role in referencing and developing an India Good Delivery Standard.”

Observing that setting up of an Assay Institute is a good move, he said that Hallmarking has grown in 20 years since it was introduced. “Now we need to speed up the next phase of expansion,” he stressed.

He informed those present that WGC, along with some  other stakeholders,  had already created a blueprint for a Bullion Exchange.

“Now with Gold Policy being formulated, a centralised leadership centre needs to be created,” Shishmanian exhorted. “This is a good beginning, but change is not moving fast enough.”

The Hon’ble Raj Modi,  Deputy Minister at Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Industry & Commerce, extended a warm welcome to all businessmen present to take advantage of business opportunities in his country. “There are many opportunities in both the gold and diamond, as well as other sectors,” he said. “The Government is very open, and would be happy to welcome anyone interested in  establishing  business contacts.”

The vote of thanks was presented by GJEPC’s Convener of the Gold Jewellery Panel Committee, K Srinivasan.

 The Summit,  which is a gathering of all the most significant stakeholders of the jewellery industry, has  senior representation from  gold miners, policy makers, retailers, bankers, and industry analysts from across the globe attending it.   

The GJEPC has spelt out the  objectives of the Summit as:

• To bring all the stakeholders across the world who will attend this conference and contribute to defining the policy which can usher   transparency in gold and  consequently the jewellery business in India
• To seize the leadership in gold in the world being the largest consumer of gold
• To understand the implementation procedures and obstacles from other countries in the world like Turkey, UK, China etc.
• To have a discussion amongst Indian and world stakeholders how to utilise gold in enhancing India's objective of being the largest exporters of gold jewellery in the world and generate 8 million employment by the year 2025

Pic Cap: Hon’ble Minister for Commerce & Industry, Government of India, Shri Suresh Prabhu speaking at the summit