ICA Congress delegates look to Chinese market

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ICA Congress delegates look to Chinese market

May 19, 2009

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Panyu, China--The International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA) ended its Congress in Panyu, China, on May 10, with the largest attendance in its history and a general agreement among foreign delegates that new business opportunities exist in the Chinese market.

According to experts, the Chinese domestic market for jewelry will double in the next few years, becoming the largest market in the world. To help understand how to gain access to this increasingly important market, high-level Chinese government officials and industry players explained the ins and outs of doing business in the nation, which now has a middle class of more than 200 million people.

A whitepaper on the Chinese colored-stone market, co-sponsored by the ICA and China Gold News, was distributed at the end of the conference to all delegates.

Other items on the ICA agenda included the Lifetime Achievement Awards honoring two individuals for their significant and meaningful contributions to the ICA and the growth of the international gemstone industry and trade. This year, the honorees were Campbell Bridges and Yip Kun Poon, both veterans of the colored-gemstone industry.

Bridges, a founding member of the ICA, discovered tsavorite and is the first person to provide tanzanite for identification in the United States. British-born, he now lives in Kenya, where he continues his important work in the gemstone trade.

Hong Kong-based Poon was also an ICA founding member. He has worked tirelessly for decades to bring colored gems to the Japanese market, while forging long-term relationships with suppliers all over the world.

Another main topic at the ICA event was the presentation of a project for the standardization of colored gemstones in China to improve quality, industrial competitiveness and consumer awareness in that nation.

In addition, the ICA announced that it's becoming a member of Communities and Small-Scale Mining (CASM), a World Bank initiative "to reduce poverty by improving the environmental, social and economic performance of artisanal and small-scale mining in developing countries."

The ICA's new president and board were ratified as well. Heading up the organization will be: Wilson Yuen, president; Jean-Claude Michelou and Charles Abouchar, vice presidents; Michael Haag, treasurer; Clement Sabbagh and Benjamin Hackman, secretaries; and Asraf Sultan, executive board member.

The ICA Congress in Panyu received 200 overseas delegates from 26 countries and more than 750 local Chinese participants. Conference organizers and premier sponsors included: Gem and Jewelry Association of China, National Gemstone Testing Center in Beijing, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Panyu Branch, Worldmart Jewelry and Gems Emporium (HK) Ltd., Jewellery News Asia, UBM, Guangzhou Mickey Weinstock and Co. Diamonds Manufacturing Ltd., Panyu, China, China Gold News and Guangzhou Panyu Jewelry Manufacturers Association.

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