ICA Hosts Successful Dubai Congress
Speakers stress need to embrace global colored gemstone
trends – from mine to marketplace

Story and photos by Robert Weldon

Joe Menzie, outgoing president, declared the 2007 ICA Congress a success.

Nearly 300 participants from 34 countries came together for the 12th Biennial ICA Congress, held May 5 to 9. The International Colored Gemstone Association, which chooses a different international venue for each congress, selected the thriving business center of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. Colored gemstone dealers are enthusiastic about Dubai as an emerging marketplace for their products, citing its rapid growth in diamond business as a comparison. Dubai, with its pro-investment attitude, is often touted as a new gateway of commerce between the Middle to Far East and Western countries.

"As a result of the interest people are taking in Dubai, the congress was one of our best ever attended," noted departing ICA President Joe Menzie, of Joseph Menzie, Inc, in New York. "Members came with a willingness to share ideas about raising the profile of colored gemstones and looking for new market contacts. For many of our ICA members, Dubai broke barriers to colored gemstone trade [in a way] that will also have an effect on trade with other new regional markets such as China, South Korea and Russia."

Andrew Cody, of Cody Opal, Melbourne, Australia is ICA's new president.

He said exposing ICA members to new markets where colored gemstones can be sold successfully is one of the major goals he feels he achieved during his administration. "By developing constructive relationships and agreements in different countries, we have left business tools on the ground for our members," he said. "By coming to places like Dubai, in which the colored gem trade is about to take off, more key people in those places also begin to recognize ICA as an organization of integrity."

Menzie's term as president ended after the congress in Dubai, when the ICA announced that Andrew Cody of Cody Opal, Pty Ltd. in Melbourne, Australia, was stepping up as the next president.

Other ICA initiatives were also announced, including a partnership with Brandmatrix SiteInfusion, developed by Polygon, and described as a Web site within a Web site. ICA members and retail jewelers can access ICA's consumer-friendly content, which will be available in Arabic, Chinese and English (more languages are being developed).

Signs of progress are everywhere as Dubai's growth rate nears double digits; it claims to employ one-third of the world's building cranes. ICA gem dealers hope to grow their businesses in the Middle to Far East in tandem with Dubai's phenomenal growth statistics.

From the Mine
The theme of the congress, "From the Mine to the Marketplace," attracted guest speakers from around the globe who discussed emerging trends in colored gemstones. Representatives from various producing countries, including Brazil, Pakistan, Madagascar and Nigeria spoke about governmental reforms aimed at stimulating the gem business in those countries. Gwen Nwachukwu, permanent secretary to the Ministry of Mines in Nigeria, extolled a "new era" of reforms that included privatization of governmental mining assets, 100 percent equity, and security for investors.

"Because our gem mining sector is dominated by artisanal miners with poor knowledge of geology or mining, our development strategy is to vastly simplify export documents, upgrade trading centers, push exploration and develop international marketing and promotion," she said.

Jean Claude Michelou, a gem expert who recently studied Pakistan as a gem source, says many similar reforms are either proposed or underway there. "With mining reforms, greater education and value-added projects, the goal is to see more production from Pakistan's sources, [and] more lapidary and jewelry production so that this sector can grow and thrive," he said.

Gem dealers at the show confirmed that gemstone rough remains scarce from various sources. News of exploration efforts and large scale mining to increase supplies of gems to meet market demands, however, was welcome. They were also pleased to hear that the supply chain is becoming more transparent and that source countries are providing greater security of tenure for outside investors.

ICA member Richard Krementz said the colored gemstone industry has been inefficient at change and pointed to lower margins for stakeholders in the supply chain as a result. "Primary cutters and miners are becoming more educated about the market, and the Internet increasingly conveys price information; this will put pressure on profit margins," he warned.

ICA's poster competition drew more than 100 entries from 22 countries. The winning poster was designed and photographed by Yekaterina Sverdlova of Russia. Second and third place prizes were claimed by Priyanka Sharma and Helmant Baweja, respectively, both of India.

To the Market
Members from Australia, Japan, Tahiti and other countries described successful efforts to promote and market colored gemstones – and guest speakers from China signaled their country's emergence as a potential gemstone trading center. "Industries are in migration due to the irreversible trend of globalization," said K. K. Yeung, an executive at WorldMart Jewellery and Gems Emporium, based in Panyu, China. "Europe and America's [industrial dominance] was in the 1970s. Now it is in Asia," he noted.

While China and India are emerging as new industrial giants, some Asian countries acknowledged recent challenges. Toshio Takada, of Takada Enterprise Co., based in Tokyo, Japan, pointed to a decline in the importation and sale of colored gemstones in his country between 1998 and 2006.

He also outlined, however, a success story for one gem category: ruby. He described a joint marketing and branding effort initiated in 2002 for the promotion of rubies as a "life-cycle gift." Ten Japanese jewelers raised funds for the promotion and branding; trade members from Thailand (the producing country) also financially contributed to the venture.

The promotion was aimed at three milestones in Japanese society: a mother's gift to female babies, a girl's 20-year-old celebration, and a 60-year celebration of marriage. Takada says the promotion was very successful and noted that the concept of partnership between other producing/consuming countries could also be applied to other gemstone categories.

A panel of speakers that included GIA's Andy Lucas, Russell Shor, this author and Robert Kane of Fine Gems International in Helena, Montana, discussed the importance of education, accountability and fair trade practices, as they affect the gemstone industry. Kane also outlined a consumer assurance program for gemstones to reassure consumers about the colored gemstones they buy.

Editor's note: Look for a story and photographic essay about the ICA tour to East Africa in the next issue of The Loupe.