8th Edition of IIJS Signature begins with 586 booths

The eighth edition of the IIJS Signature was inaugurated today at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai. This year the show housed 586 booths. The chief guest presiding over the inauguration show was Andrey Polyakov, Vice-President, ALROSA. The guests of honour were Shaina N. C., a renowned social worker and Kirtilal Doshi, Founder, Shrenuj & Company.

Vipul Shah presented the welcome speech. He stated, "I welcome you all to the eighth edition of the IIJS Signature show. The show has become a vital converging point for all sellers and buyers to discuss and stock up on products for upcoming wedding season and the year. It has become a very retail centric sourcing event. We have 586 booths this year and are expecting a very good foot fall. We are also expecting increased number of international buyers as we have hosted road shows in Russia, Turkey, Lebanon, etc. to allure international buyers. Our effort is to make India, the top diamond hub. Along with that we also want the diamond workers to benefit from the trade. On March 15, 2015 we will be launching a mediclaim policy that will benefit the diamond workers. The first lot will serve 100,000 workers."

The guests of honours at the function Shaina N. C. and Kirtilal Doshi also took to the podium. They shared their vision and thoughts about the trade. Doshi shared that he estimates that 60 per cent of the diamonds will be sold over e commerce by the end of this decade.

Later the chief guest, Andrey Polyakov, Vice-President, ALROSA shared his view about the show and the market with the attendees. He stated, "The ALROSA and India have very strong ties since last few years. The ties were strengthened last November when the two leaders of our respective countries came together at the World Diamond Conference to support our trade. We signed the MoU with 12 Indian companies at the WDC. India is the driver of the market and Mumbai has the potential to be the diamond hub of the world. As an industry we all need to come together to promote diamonds in the consumer sphere. The rough prices are going to stable. There won't be dramatic corrections in rough prices as diamantaires don't want that too. In the second quarter of this year, we are expecting the demand to grow. There are positive signs in India and America. China is recovering, too. We will not over flood the market with supply and constrict some supply. As a part of the chain, both miners and diamond manufacturers and retailers need to help each other to retain profitability. It's all about flexibility between the rough and polished prices. We need to have enhanced generic promotion of diamonds to stimulate growth in our industry."