GJEPC launches first virtual buyer-seller meet for diamonds

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Sep 4, 2020

On September 3, the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council inaugurated its first ‘Virtual Buyer and Seller Meet’ for loose diamonds to facilitate trade during the ‘new normal’. 

The GJEPC’s two-day virtual buyer-seller meet launched on Thursday with the aim of facilitating business networking, the GJEPC announced on its website. Ten Indian businesses exhibited at the meet comprising Paladiya Brothers & Co., Arjiv Exports, Unique Gems, Shree Ramkrishna Exports Pvt. Ltd., J.K. Star, VD Global Private Limited, Laxmi Diamond Pvt. Ltd., Sheetal Mfg. Company Pvt. Ltd., D. Navinchandra Exports Pvt. Ltd., and Narola Gems.
 
“Virtual buying-selling formats will be the new normal going forward,” Ministry of Commerce and Industry joint secretary, Suresh Kumar, said at the online opening ceremony, the GJEPC reported. 

“As we do not know how fast this scenario is going to change, and we cannot wait for the pandemic to go away, so it’s prudent to shift to a virtual platform through which buyers and sellers can continue doing business in confidentiality with secured measures. I’m happy that this is one of India’s most promising sectors in terms of merchandise exports."
 
“It’s a historic shift for GJEPC to conduct the first ever virtual buyer-seller meet,” said GJEPC chairman, Colin Shah. “The pandemic has forced us to think out of the box… Although the pandemic has taken its toll, there have been good positives, markets like America and China are coming back strongly and this should translate into recovery of exports for us. Supply of rough was constrained so the polished prices remained stable.”
 
The meet harnessed a range of technologies to facilitate interactions including using special cameras provided by the GJEPC to enable buyers to view diamonds in high definition. Other features included Cloud storage for secure online trading, products displayed on the GJEPC website to enable viewing during live meetings, and buyer-seller matching depending on specific product types buyers are looking for.