Gem institute outlines growth strategy

The Nation

The Gem and Jewellery Institute of Thailand has outlined strategic plans to maintain export growth and expects overseas sales to grow 5-10 per cent this year.

The global economic crisis is threatening all business sectors, including gems and jewellery. However, the institute is making an effort to stimulate the industry, in order to maintain Thailand's status as one of the world's key exporters of gems and jewellery.

Director Wilawan Atichat said four strategic plans had been formulated, both short and long term.

In the short term, the institute plans aggressive international marketing via working with relevant government and business organisations to build a powerful force for penetrating new emerging markets.

Some of the alliances will be with the Department of Export Promotion, the Thai Gem and Jewellery Trader Association and the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

"This year, gem and jewellery producers will focus on emerging markets like China, India, Eastern Europe, Russia and the Middle East instead of the US and Western Europe, which are being affected by the economic crisis," said Wilawan.

She said Thai products were competitive with major rivals, even China and India, which have lower operating costs.

"Quality and high standards are our strong factors in bringing Thai gem and jewellery brands to the forefront of the global market despite the world's economic crisis," said Wilawan.

The organisation will host the International Gem and Jewellery Conference 2009 in Bangkok next Monday and Tuesday. It is expected to attract more than 400 participants from all over the world and restore confidence in products designed and made in Thailand.

In the long term, the institute will implement several training programmes and intensive skill-development workshops and encourage dialogue among concerned parties.

All courses will be conducted by knowledgeable and experienced professors. Some will be coordinated with leading international organisations like Italy's Le Arti Orafe.

Another plan entails guaranteeing the quality of Thai gems and jewellery by spending Bt20 million for advanced testing machines, such as a laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer, a laser-Raman spectrometer and a cathodoluminescence spectrometer. These are expected to improve customer confidence and consequently maintain or boost exports during the economic downturn.

The value of gem and jewellery exports is expected to be between Bt28 billion and Bt30 billion this year, up 5-10 percent from last year's Bt27 billion.

Last year, gems and jewellery were ranked third among Thailand's total export value, behind electronics and automobiles.