SHARJAH JEWELLERY FAIR RECORDS MASSIVE VISITOR TURNOUT, SALES

PRESS RELEASE- 12 APRIL 2011

SHARJAH JEWELLERY FAIR RECORDS MASSIVE VISITOR TURNOUT, SALES

SHARJAH

The continued rally in gold prices has had no impact on investors as they are buying into the precious metal in anticipation of a further rise in prices. And, the just concluded MidEast Watch & Jewellery Show was witness to this phenomenon, said analysts and exhibitors who took part in the 30th edition of the premier fair in the region.

Besides, since corrections in gold prices are proving be to too shallow, people are preferring to buy on the rise, they said. On the fourth day of the show and the last trading day of the week, spot gold rose as high as US$ 1,474.96 an ounce, on track for a gain of 3.1 per cent last week alone. Gold prices were US$ 265 an ounce in early 2001.

Gold is fast approaching the US$ 1,500 per ounce level and even US$ 1,600, goldalert.com said last week, quoting analysts. In another forecast last week, Standard Chartered said gold’s “super cycle” could see prices averaging US$ 2,100 an ounce by 2014 and even approaching US$ 5,000 later in the decade.

A weaker dollar and concerns about inflation were attracting investors into precious metals, noted analysts. Investors are also looking at the prospect of more declines in the dollar following the European Central Bank's first rate hike since 2008.

The rise in demand for gold reflected positively on sales at the MidEast Watch & Jewellery Show, according to exhibitors who took part in the show. The edition was a major milestone in the show’s history as it became one of the longest running and most popular jewellery fair in the region with 30 successful editions to its credit.

The MidEast Watch & Jewellery Show recorded 53,340 visitors during its five-day run, a six per cent rise over the previous spring edition of the show in 2010. It was held from April 5 to 9, 2011, at Expo Centre Sharjah and featured more than 450 master jewellers and major retailers from all over the world.

Antonella from Fabio Fanfani, exhibiting as part of the Italian Pavilion, said, “The visitor turnout for the show was pretty good… we had good sales on all five days of the show. Looks like people have got the better of recession and they are much more confident in their buying decisions. We are very happy and will definitely be here in October too (for the autumn edition of the show).”

In fact, all the exhibitors, including those at the national pavilions, reported good sales. Damiano Damianicos, of Damiano Damianicos from Italy, said, “We had excellent response and sales. In fact, we were surprised that we had a lot of buyers from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman, apart from the UAE. We feel the show’s promotional campaigns were spot on, which is reflected in the rise in the number of visitors this year.”

The worries of some exhibitors about lingering issues of recession weighing on the sales were also negated by the show. Sigimonda Capriotti, of Capriotti, said, “We are very happy that the show was excellent for us. Our participation in some other shows elsewhere was not good and we were worried initially. But the visitor turnout here was very good, and we are happy with the sales at Expo Centre Sharjah.”

At the same time, the show exceeded the expectations of some exhibitors. Kapil Jain of Thailand-based Suraj Diamonds, wholesalers of diamond jewellery with offices in Bangkok, Dubai and New York, said, “We had excellent orders from the show and are very happy with the participation. The sales exceeded our expectations.”

“We had very good business. We were extremely busy right through the five days of the show. In fact, despite having many sales staff at our stand it was pretty difficult at times as we had so many customers at the same time,” said a representative of Rivoli.

A jewellery fashion show, introduced for the first time to mark the show’s 30th edition, turned out to be a major attraction at the show. Another new feature, the International Diamond Labs (IDL) stall at the venue to check the quality of the diamonds was commended as a pioneering move in industry circles.

“Both our new offerings – the fashion show and diamond checking – proved to be very popular with visitors. The regular raffle draw which gave away fabulous prizes every day to lucky buyers turned out to be a crowd puller this time too,” said Mr Saif Mohammed Al Midfa, Director-General, Expo Centre Sharjah.

During its five-day run, the MidEast Watch & Jewellery Show featured diamonds, pearls, precious stones, gold and diamond jewellery, diamond and pearl sets, crystals, watches and jewellery displays.

Exhibitors came from Armenia, Italy, Bahrain, China, Lebanon, Qatar, India, Jordan, Japan, Lithuania, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, Malaysia, the US and the UAE.

Hong Kong-China, India, Italy, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore had imposing National Pavilions at the show. The Hong Kong-China Pavilion featured 51 exhibitors, while the India Pavilion had 36 exhibitors. The Lebanese Pavilion featured 23 exhibitors, Singapore and Malaysia pavilions 20 and the Thailand Pavilion 15.

The exhibition was organised by Expo Centre Sharjah with the support of the World Gold Council and the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Ends

For more information, please contact:

P. Ravi, Manager (Exhibition Services), Expo Centre Sharjah
Tel: 06-5991177. Mobile: 050-6269781

OR

Abdulla Al Huraimel
Tel: 06-5991195. Mobile: 050-4811711

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