Issue 24

 

 

Although Bollywood might be the most colourful movie industry on earth, India’s gemstone and diamond industry pales in comparison, according to one of the leading members of the Indian-Thai jewellery community.

Exporting Thai gemstones to India has huge potential, so says the vice-president of the Indian-Thai Diamond and Colorstone Association. “Indian culture is colourful but Indian jewellery is white,” says Atul Jogani, who is also the vice-president of the Thai Gem and Jewelry Traders Association. “India needs a change.”

According to Jogani, US$1.8 billion worth of gems and jewellery is traded between India and Thailand each year with Thailand having a surplus. But this he believes is just a drop in the ocean. “India is a sleeping diamond,” he says. “If you do the right promotion, there is a definite market for coloured stones in India.”

Jogani cites a recent fashion show held in the Indian diamond city of Surat promoting ploy Thai (coloured stones), which involved Thai models as an example of the way that Thai gemstones can be taken to India. He is also involved in organising a further Thai fashion show at the India International Jewellery Show (IIJS) to be held in Mumbai from August 6 to 10.

With over a million tourists travelling to Thailand each year, Jogani says that Indians already know about the quality of the country’s ploy Thai. “The new rich [in India] want something different and Thailand has something different,” he says.

The potential benefit for Thailand’s ploy Thai industry could be astronomical, with India having a US$25 billion local jewellery market. “Even a small part of it is large enough,” says Jogani.

He claims that Thailand’s gemstone and jewellery industry has “grown up” in recent years. The country has become a trading hub with major shows such as the Bangkok Gems and Jewelry Fair (BGJWF) held twice a year in Bangkok. He also believes it can become the gateway to the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) at the end of this year.

Unlike many Thai-based businesspeople, Jogani sees the new community as only offering opportunities rather than challenges, viewing the country’s reputation for quality craftsmanship as a barrier from any competition from its ASEAN neighbours. He sees the relationship with countries such as Laos and Cambodia as being similar to that of an older and younger brother, rather than squabbling siblings. And with the two most populous nations at its doorstep, Jogani feels the potential within ASEAN is considerable. “You have half the world with you in Bangkok,” he says.

Rather Jogani sees the real completion as coming from other luxury industries, such as bag and phone manufacturers, that are competing for the regions’ lifestyle expenditure.

Jogani’s love for the country that he first came to 29 years ago as a 22-year-old shines through. “Whatever I am now is due to Thailand,” he says. “I came as a friend and the Thai people took me as a brother.” Time will tell if this brotherly love is reciprocated back in his motherland, and whether Indians share his passion for ploy Thai.

Words by Mark Bibby Jackson