INDIRECT TAXES
| Middle East unrest hits gems and jewellery exports Thu, 24 Feb 2011 23:21:41 GMT |
| KOLKATA: The mounting political tension in the Middle East and Libya may impact Indian gem and jewellery exports. The WANA (West Asia and North Africa) countries were slowly emerging as potential markets for gem and jewellery exports in the last five years and account for nearly 5% of India’s gem and jewellery exports. Pankaj Parekh, chairman (eastern region) of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), said: “Libya has been importing gold jewelleries from India and the exports had been increasing significantly. But the political crisis is affecting the exports.” However, the markets in WANA countries are not very large. “These are growing markets and do not contribute a large volume towards our exports,” said a trader in Mumbai. A large portion of the jewellery to West Asia is routed through Dubai. The exporters say that the exports through Dubai has shown a 20% to 30% growth in the recent years. “As the oil prices are increasing, the dispensable income in the hands of the Middle East people are also increasing. We are trying to set up a service centre in Dubai,” said Sabyasachi Ray, executive director of GJEPC. Interestingly, despite the high gold prices, the exports from India jumped 15% for January 2011. According to provisional figures released by GJEPC, India’s gold jewellery export for January 2011 at $569.32 million shows a growth of 15.38% compared to $493.43 million the same period previous year. The overall exports of $2,865.66 million in January 2011 is showing a growth of 22.52% compared to $2,338.90 million the same period last year. Sanjay Sanghvi, chief administrative officer of Gemmological Institute of India, said: “Hong Kong is emerging as a major market for India. In fact, Hong Kong is a place where buyers come from all over the world to buy gems and jewelleries.” |
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