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| Sunday, 1 May 2005 |
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FACETS 2005 - focus on creativity of Lankan craftsmen by Elmo Leonard Sri Lanka's annual 15th FACETS 2005 Gem and Jewellery Show will be staged from August 31 to September 3 and have 150 stalls, 50 more than last year. The venue shifts to the new BMICH conference hall in Colombo with more space and bearing modern facilities.
Todate, 100 stalls were sold, but the organisers were holding on to ensure that more local companies are afforded space, FACETS finance director, Akram Mansoor said. And ensuring a place for Sri Lanka is what FACETS was about when it started in 1990, having impermanently lost Colombo to Bangkok as the globe's centre for gemstones, arising from an onslaught of Thai gem dealers in the 1970's and 80's. FACETS also endeavoured to simultaneously reestablish Sri Lanka as the finest source of coloured gemstones in the world, it held from time immemorial. Such objectives have now long been realised. FACETS has also changed its logo, and its campaign will now bear, the words, from the source... Sri Lanka is reputed to have the largest and most exquisite coloured precious stones in the world bearing 55 of 150 known varieties in the world. The Lankan range varies from exquisite one-of-a-kind Blue Sapphires, Star Sapphires, Pink, Yellow and Orange Sapphires, Padparadschas, Cats Eyes, Alexandrites and Chrysoberyls to Garnets, Spinels, Moonstones and Aquamarine both free sizes and calibrated, cut to international standards. Last year Sri Lanka's exports of gems and jewellery was a record $129.9 million, with jewellery exports being $20.2 million in value.
The country has also made a niche for a highly developed jewellery industry with a refined degree of creativity and craftsmanship, manufacturing jewellery to meet international quality standards. There are over 25,000 men and women employed in the island's jewellery manufacturing industry, according to statistics of the National Gem and Jewellery Authority of Sri Lanka (NGJA). Thus, FACETS 2005 will be the show of gems, jewellery and creativity of Sri Lankan craftsmen, according to the FACETS organising committee, Macky Hashim. Hashim who is also the chairman of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industries recently signed an agreement with China to promote trade in gems and jewellery between China and the SAARC countries. A BIMSTEC group will be represented at the FACETS show. India and Myanmar are very much interested in having their own stalls at the FACETS show. China is an emerging market and the buyers have already started coming to the SAARC region. The Sri Lanka Gem and Jewellery Association (SLGJA) also plans to promote the FACETS in China and Russia. The show is sponsored by the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) and NGJA. Over the last couple of years SLGJA has promoted the show in India, Thailand and Europe and FACETS conforms to the adage, Come September, Come FACETS, among gem and jewellery buyers, worldwide. Other gem and jewellery shows in Thailand and Hongkong are scheduled close to the staging of the FACETS show, making it easier for buyers to make a complete buying trip of Asia. The United States is the largest buyer of Sri Lanka gems, while other countries such as Japan, Europe, Korea and Thailand also come under Sri Lanka's top buyers bracket. This year's FACETS show will be opened by a yet unnamed, renowned jewellery maker in the US. The FACETS organising committee is also planning to extend invitations to top jewellery designers in the world in the future as a new marketing strategy. However, it is necessary to offer them free travel and accommodation facilities and the assistance of the government is needed to carry our such promotional programs, Hashim said. A continuous marketing program is needed to promote Sri Lanka's gemstones and with sponsorship of around $150,000, the industry would do much better, Hashim said. EDB Chairman, Rohantha Athukorela spelled out the new marketing strategy being adopted to promote Sri Lanka's products overseas, including the gem and jewellery industry. Chairman NGJA spelled out how his organisation publicised Sri Lanka's prima dona, the Blue Sapphire at the recent Bangkok Gem and Jewellery Show. |
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