GJEPC focusing on US, Canadian markets

Las Vegas--India’s Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council has a new three-year marketing campaign designed to develop business relationships in the U.S., Canadian and South American markets.

Announced at breakfast press conference held during the Las Vegas jewelry shows, the new campaign centers around what the GJEPC is calling Business Development Conferences, or BDCs, which will be held in the Americas and give Indian manufacturers and exporters the chance to meet in person with clients to discuss issues and hammer out possible solutions. 

The dates for the first conference already have been set. It is scheduled to take place in Chicago from Sept. 5 to 8 and will be the first of several face-to-face meetings in phase one of the GJEPC’s three-year-long campaign. 

GJEPC Chairman Pankaj Parekh said they expect 15 manufacturers/exporters from India to attend the Chicago conference, along with 15 to 20 companies from North America. 

Former National Jeweler Publisher and Editorial Director Whitney Sielaff and Rick Bannerot of S&B Partners LLC are organizing and running the conference on behalf of the GJEPC. Sielaff and Bannerot also organized two BDCs recently held by the GJEPC in India. 

“This September BDC is the first such event held in the USA,” GJEPC Chairman Vipul Shah said. “For us, it is a significant outreach program to the Western Hemisphere, not only looking at our important markets but including our colleagues, clients and competitors.”

The latest statistics from the GJEPC show that Indian gem and jewelry markets to the U.S. alone grew 11 percent year-over-year, increasing from $4.03 billion in 2012 to $4.79 billion in 2013, and the GJEPC notes that the Indian manufacturers supply the majority of the U.S.’s leading traders. 

“In today’s world, change is constant and we hope BDCs…will make sure India’s gem and jewelry industry is tied firmly into the world’s trends, technologies and capabilities,” Shah said. 

Sponsored by India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the GJEPC is a trade organization for Indian jewelry designers, manufacturers and exporters, representing more than 5,300 members of the gem and jewelry industry.