Gem, jewellery exports increase in April

Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA

The gem and jewellery industry continued its growth momentum from last year. It has recorded an impressive performance in April this year.

The total gem, jewellery and diamond exports recorded an increase of 32.4 percent from Rs 3,301 million to Rs 4,370 million in April 2011 compared to April 2010. The cumulative total for April 2011 increased by 7.2 percent from Rs 14.92 billion to Rs 15.98 billion, National Gem and Jewellery Authority (NGJA) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rohan Daluwatte told Daily News Business.

"The performance of the gem and jewellery industry is increasing and this is a positive sign for industry growth", he said.

The gem exports recorded 18.5 percent growth while 18 percent growth was recorded for jewellery. This is an encouraging trend as jewellery are value additions and our key focus is generating more revenue. "We always encourage value addition and are keen about recording higher value for jewellery exports. This is also a positive outcome despite the recent reduction in import duty on jewellery. In this backdrop the increased volume of jewellery exports augurs well for the industry," he said.

The NGJA will look forward to sustain the growth momentum and will actively participate in a number of international trade fairs to have Sri Lankan pavilion showcasing country's capabilities. Among the countries that Sri Lanka will participate in international gem and jewellery shows for this year are China, Singapore, Turkey and Malaysia.

The Singapore International Gem and Jewellery show will be held in July. Sri Lanka is participating in this show for the seventh year.