Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal believes that the gems and jewellery sector needs to re-think, re-orient & re-design its practices and processes to become self-reliant.
Addressing CII's Digital Gems & Jewellery Conference on Self-Reliance in Jewellery: Mining, Manufacturing & Markets, Goyal said that the Gem & Jewellery sector, through its consciousness about quality & price competitiveness, has been able to penetrate markets of USA, UAE, Russia, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc, and India is today well recognised the world over for its gem & jewellery sector, for the- CHARM they bring to products - COST effectiveness - CONSCIENTIOUS work.
Talking about the pandemic impact on the sector, Goyal said, "the Covid pandemic tested the country’s resolve and the Gems and Jewellery sector had taken a big hit."
However, Goyal also added that the recent exports and domestic figures of the sector show that the industry has used innovation, ingenuity and adoption to the new normal, to make a comeback.
He says, "Our gems & jewellery industry has a mindset which is contemporary in nature, which adopts with changing time and leverages our strengths across the world."
"If we built upon our integrity, I have no doubt that we'll be able to expand our markets & meet the world's needs from India. This will involve adopting technology, innovation & skill development," Goyal adds.
Further, Goyal said, "Majority of players in the Gems & Jewellery sector are MSMEs. We need to come forward to augment their efforts in marketing, packaging logistic & access to low-cost finance. This can be done with joint participation & active involvement of associations from the gems & jewellery industry. With joint participation, we can support MSMEs in the sector."
"In this new normal, we have the potential to engage with the world in a bigger way & improve our advantages in this sector," he adds.
Reiterating the important role of the sector in the economy, Goyal said that the sector contributes about 7.5% of the country’s GDP, 14% to the nation’s exports and provides employment to over 5 million people.
He said that the India International Jewellery show which was held virtually on the digital platform for the first time was itself a very big demonstration of our industry's ability to face any adversity.
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