Gem and Jewellery show FACETS to be held in September

Sri Lanka’s only International Gem and Jewellery show FACETS Sri Lanka 2011 will be held from September 8-11 at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Centre in Colombo for the 21st consecutive year.

FACETS Sri Lanka is organized by the Sri Lanka Gem and Jewellery Association (SLGJA) with the objective of showcasing Sri Lanka’s Gem and Jewellery products to the global market and to communicate Sri Lanka’s position as a leading supplier of Gems and Jewellery to the international market.

Chairman SLGJA Deshabandu Macky Hashim said, “This has been organized following other international exhibitions in the region which will facilitate participants from around the world. The exhibition will provide ample opportunities to the local trading community to expose their products to international markets”.   

FACETS Sri Lanka Chairman Chanaka Ellawala said, “As an emerging economy, Sri Lanka is looking forward to expand its trade ties with the South Asian region particularly India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. FACETS offers the perfect platform for this. There are minimal opportunities for local industry to showcase our products within these countries. Having FACETS Sri Lanka is a unique opportunity for the Gem and Jewellery industry stakeholders in neighboring countries to view and buy our products. This is a huge opportunity to develop trade with our neighbors”.

Organizers target 7,500 visitors and 140 to 150 exhibitors for this year’s show. Out of this they expect 1,000 foreign visitors and 20 foreign exhibitors for FACETS Sri Lanka 2011. Thirteen foreign exhibitors from India, Myanmar, Thailand and Hong Kong have already registered for the show.

The Country’s main markets, Europe and the US are recovering from a recession. FACETS organizers predict a strong presence of buyers from these markets as well as countries like China and Russia with active promotion of trade to these countries.

Promising to be even bigger and better FACETS Sri Lanka will have two large convention halls in this year’s show. The main hall will display precious and semiprecious gems and the second hall will be exclusively dedicated to Jewellery, lapidary and machinery items to meet the expectations of all the stakeholders in the industry.       

FACETS is well known among the global gem industry, particularly in the US, Europe and Japan as the only international Gem and Jewellery exhibition in Sri Lanka. SLGJA is now trying to promote the show more in BRIC countries too.

 Since its commencement in 1991 FACETS has made a significant contribution to the development of the local Gem and Jewellery industry. The show was able to put Sri Lanka on the international Gem and Jewellery trade map as a main producing and sourcing country. FACETS has also been instrumental in opening new markets such as China and Russia for Sri Lanka.

The National Gem and Jewellery Authority is the principal sponsor and the Sri Lanka Export Development Board is the sponsor of the show.