2009 ICA Congress set for China
March 21, 2008
New York—Noting
China's increasing role in the jewelry and colored-gemstone industry, the International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA) plans to hold the 2009 ICA Congress in Panyu, located in Guangzhou.
More than 1,000 delegates, including some 600 international participants and 400 from Hong Kong and China, are expected to attend the gathering, which will be the largest jewelry industry conference ever held in China, according to an ICA press release issued on Thursday.
ICA Vice President Prida Tiasuwan and Li Zhi-Wei, president of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Panyu Branch, signed a memorandum of understanding on March 10 in Beijing. Also on hand to witness the signing of the agreement between the two groups were two officials who will chair the congress: Sun Feng Min, secretary general of the Gems and Jewelry Trade Association of China, and Ke Jie, vice director of the National Gemstone Testing Centre.
Johnny Chan, chairman of Worldmart, and Mickey Weinstock, special jewelry advisor to the Panyu government, were tapped to serve as event organizers.
In recent years, the jewelry industry in the city of Panyu, part of Southern China's bustling Guangdong Province, has grown to include nearly 400 businesses employing more than 70,000 workers, the ICA release says.
In 2007, the total value of domestic exports totaled $1.32 billion, and that figure is expected to rise in the coming years as Panyu ramps up efforts to promote its jewelry industry, focusing especially on colored gemstones.
Following the ICA's 2007 Congress in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Panyu won the bid to host the next congress in China, winning out over several candidate cities. To prepare for the event, the Panyu government has decided to dub 2008 "The year of the Panyu colored gemstone industry."
Previous ICA conferences have been held in Thailand, India, Germany, Sri Lanka, the United States, Israel, Japan, Brazil, Italy and Australia. On the agenda for next spring's congress is discussion of the issues that face the colored-gemstone and jewelry industry. The event will also provide networking opportunities for ICA members and international delegates, allowing participants and industry members from numerous nations to meet, the ICA says.
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