International diamond jewelers converged at the first Indo-Russian Jewelry Summit, held last week at the Mumbai Hyatt Regency. The summit was organized to boost cooperation between Russia and India’s diamond and jewelry industries, cultivate networking opportunities, and arrange one-to-one business meetings. The summit was organized by the Moscow Diamond Bourse (MDB), Russian jewelry trade magazine Navigator, and India’s Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).

The event spanned four days and featured seminars, workshops, round-table discussions, and tours of diamond and jewelry factories. Prasad Kapre, Business Director at De Beers Group of Marketing, moderated and Rajiv Jain, GJEPC Chairman, spoke at the opening ceremony and welcomed the Russian participants and guest of honor Alexey Novikov, Russia’s Consul General in Mumbai.

“Both India and Russia are part of the BRIC countries and both have had tremendous growth in recent years,” said Rajiv Jain. “It is the best time to begin a new bi-lateral process between the two which will boost trade between us further.”

Oksana Senatorova, publisher of Navigator, presented topics on the Russian gem and jewelry market, informing new audiences that the domestic production of jewelry in Russian trailed behind its jewelry imports, paving way to discussions about Russia’s large potential for export. 

The GJEPC was established in 1966 to promote India’s gem and jewelry sector, increase exports, and establish India as a key player in the global jewelry market. The council has also played a key role in exploring rough diamond trade between India and other countries. Its activities include brokering communications with trade groups and associations around the world, organizing international jewelry shows and symposiums, hosting trade delegations, sending representatives abroad, and spearheading public relations campaigns and miscellaneous promotional activities.

Trade relations between the Russian and Indian diamond and jewelry sectors are not new. In 2010, New Delhi and Moscow began negotiations on supplying diamonds from Russia and establishing an office for Russian diamond monopoly ALROSA in India—India vied for intergovernmental diamond supply contracts with Russia. According to industry statistics Indian-Russian trade reached $4.5 billion in 2009-2010, with an expected goal of $20 billion by 2015.

Related Articles: