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The Sri Lanka Jewellery Design Awards Ceremony 2002 and the Sri Lanka Gem and Jewellery Web Portal was launched at the Colombo Hilton recently, Minister of Enterprise Development Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion Prof. G.L. Peiris was the chief guest on the occasion .

Chairman Export Development Board (EDB) Ratna Sivaratnam said the EDB having identified the over dependency of Sri Lanka's jewellery exporters on designs supplied by the buyers, commenced a program of design development. "One of the main activities identified under this program was conducting a jewellery design competition. To identify the design talents in Sri Lanka, the EDB conducted the first ever Sri Lanka Jewellery Design Competition in 1990. The 2002 competition is the fifth consecutive design competition held for designers which is looked forward to with great enthusiasm by the young jewellery designers.

The competition affords professionals as well as young talented amateur designers, the opportunity to enter the jewellery industry and the chance to design for the international market.

Publicity to the winners of the competition will be given in international jewellery magazines and through the EDB website as an added incentive to the designers. The winning designs and jewellery items would be displayed at Sri Lanka Pavilions organised by the EDB at international jewellery shows. These items were also displayed at the special Gem and Jewellery Show in Japan which was organised to coincide with the celebration of 50 years of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and Sri Lanka." Sivaratnam said.

The web portal is a joint effort of the EDB, the Sri Lanka Gem and Jewellery Association, the National Gem and Jewellery Authority and US Aid funded Competitiveness Initiative. This first ever Web Portal for the gem and jewellery industry presents a consolidated image and gives information on the industry in Sri Lanka to interested consumers and the trade.

Gateway to information

The Web Portal will be a gateway to information about the industry, its products and its trade members. We envisage that a well conceived and implemented web portal will portray a consolidated image of the industry on the web than can be accessed globally creating an economy of scale in virtual reality and enhancing trade between buyers and suppliers in Sri Lanka and from overseas. The EDB and National Gem and Jewellery Authority will promote the portal in overseas fairs and other events in which Sri Lanka participated", Sivaratnam said.

Pro. G.L. Peiris said "There is no doubt that industrial development is the key to the future. One of the remarkable features of our economy is the degree of its diversification. Around 30 years ago we were almost entirely dependent on export of our principal agricultural products mainly tea. Today I don't know how many of you are aware that the revenue that we earn from tea accounts for only 18% of the country's foreign exchange compared for example with 53% which we earn from apparel exports. So the focus has shifted from Agriculture production to industry.

If we are to develop the Gems and Jewellery Industry for which there is a very long heritage in this country then nothing is more important than value addition. With the restructuring of the Board of Investment (BOI) Law, the amending law was passed by Parliament on December 11, "last year with which we are now in a position to set up five Regional Commissions and in the Sabargamuwa Area in particular in Ratnapura and Kegalle. We will be concentrating very sharply on the gems and jewellery trade. Today one of the biggest problems regarding the gem and jewellery trade is that we still export a very large proportion of our stones in the uncut form which means we are deliberately minimising the profits that we receive from the export of our gem stones. If we cut those stones we can increase our profits many times. If we work on them still further, if we rescind them and if we make jewellery out of them then we can make may be 30 times of the profits that we are making today. Value addition is really the foundation of Industrial Development in Sri Lanka, he said.

Value addition

Value addition is also important from the point of view of creating employment opportunities for our people. The way forward for gems and jewellery is by value addition, which enables us to refine the product more and to achieve far greater levels of profits than we have been accustomed to getting in the past. Why should we simply rely on designs which are prepared by others and our craftsmen are working according to designs which do not reflect their creativity. One thing that this country can be proud of is the creativity of our people.

As a University teacher for over 26 years in Sri Lanka and abroad I can compare the inherent genious of our people. In terms of freshness of outlook, intellectual capability, artistic ability and creativity. There are strengths that our young people have to an extent that is unparalleled in some of the more developed countries of the world. In the apparel sector we need not worry about the year 2005 as the multifibre agreement is going out of existence if we prepare for that well in advance through the infusion of modern technology structured programs of instruction. We are doing that now. The University of Moratuwa has linked up with the London School of Fashion. If we develop these designs and if we do it systematically and methodically, preparing for this contingency which is definitely going to take place by 2005, then we have nothing to worry. But we have to upgrade the quality of a product. Now this is true in the Gem Industry as well.

We must develop our own designs, to do that we have to adopt a proper, systematic approach.

We have to introduce programs in educational institutions, we have to form vocational programs in this regard to produce our own designs, reward and encourage the young people who have the creativity and the expertise to come up with these designs and that is why the Jewellery Design Awards ceremony is so timely and appropriate to bring out the talents of young people, encourage them and enable them to develop their talents of the well-being of the industry and the economy as a whole the Government has done everything to promote this industry. For example about a year ago when I visited New York we signed an agreement to obtain assistance with regard to certification. Tourists who come to this country are prepared to spend on the purchase of Gems but naturally they want to be assured of the quality of what they are buying. One of the principal requirements is that there are proper facilities for testing and certification that has been done.

Brand consciousness

We also need to promote brand consciousness you are aware that when this country changed its name in 1972 from Ceylon to Sri Lanka with regard to Tea, we continued to use the name Ceylon. That is because Ceylon was initially etched in the consciousness of the world with regard to Tea. Everybody identified Ceylon Tea with quality.

Now the EDB under the leadership of Ratna Sivaratnam who headed one of the largest companies in this country has decided to promote brand consciousness in respect of Sri Lankan Sapphire which has undisputed quality recognised all over the world. So if we are in a position to promote that consciousness all over the world then that is an enormous moral booster for the Gem Industry.

The Jewellery Design Awards 2002 competition was conducted in three segments. Awards were presented for the amature and professional categories of each segment. Ceylon Sapphire jewellery, Japanese jewellery design collection, Diamond Jewellery design collection were three segments. Over 200 competitors took part in the event. In the Diamond Jewellery design collection professional category Dipal Wijendra won the bronze award while S.K.W. Pathinayake won the Silver and Gold awards. In the Japanese jewellery design collection amateur category Rasika Bandara was selected second runner-up while the first runner-up was Thusari Abeywardena. The winner was Hirani Kalpani Kumarasinghe.

In the professional category the bronze award was won by Ravindra Lakshman Jayatilleke, while Manori Jayasinghe won the silver award. The gold award was won by Manojani Goonetileke.

In the Ceylon Sapphire Jewellery Amateur Category Vithanage Aruna Prasad was elected 2nd runner-up. The first runner-up was Dilani Ranasinghe while the winner was Mangala Samarasooriya, Mahojan Goonatileke was the Bronze and the Silver awards winner in the professional category while Manjula Perera won the Gold award.

Chairman EDB Ratna Sivaratnam, Chairman National Gem and Jewellery Authority Prof. P.G.R. Dharmaratna, Chief of Party The competitiveness initiative. John Varley Chairman, Gem and Jewellery Association. Ravindra Nanayakkara, Chairman, Web Portal Committee, Shezard Careem, Chairman of the Jewellery cluster Chanaka Ellawela members of the Gems and Jewellery Trade leading exporters, designers were also present.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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