With the India International Jewellery Show (IIJS) scheduled to begin August 30, a press conference was held today by the Gem & Jewellery export Promotion Council (GJEPC), as a prelude to the show. GJEPC Chairman Sanjay Kothari noted that the IIJS has scaled up to rank as the fifth amongst all trade shows worldwide, with a 15 per cent growth over last year.

The 1,581 standard exhibition booths built over 50,000 sq m will be occupied by 740 exhibitors participating from 22 foreign countries. This year, the show is expected to attract 25,000 visitors, with around 15,000 having pre-registered and an additional 1,500 scheduled to visit as members of official delegations. The Thailand delegation has shown a keen interest and would accompany the Thai commerce minister to the IIJS.

Promotion of the IIJS ensured the hype with 20,000 newsletters published in four editions, delegations to a number of other countries, direct mail campaigns and road-shows in 60 Indian cities. According to Sanjay Kothari, jewellery has influenced Indian industry�s export growth immensely contributing a 34.5 per cent increase over last year, compared to 2.74 per cent overall industry growth. The IIJS 2007 is being weighed on high expectations.