Dubai’s exports of precious and semi-precious gemstones in the first half of 2006 topped Dh2.4 billion ($653 million), a minister said.

The high volume of exports has firmly established the emirate as a new world centre for the gemstone trade, said Sheikha Lubna bint Khaled Al Qasimi, the UAE Minister of Economy,  in her keynote speech at the 12th Biennial International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA) Congress in Dubai yesterday (May 7).

“Last year, the UAE accounted for more than Dh22 billion of the Dh537 billion global jewellery market, almost a third of the regional total,” she said. “The gemstones sector is playing an increasingly larger role in this trade. In the first six months of 2006, Dubai exported Dh2.44 billion worth of precious and semi-precious stones, which adds up to over 28 per cent of total exports. The import, export and re-export of precious commodities as a whole, meanwhile, amounted to over Dh22 billion. Truly impressive figures,” she said.

Attending the conference are 250 key representatives of the world gem trade, all of who have travelled to the Emirate to meet industry peers and discuss the development of the gemstone value chain.

These ICA members oversee a multi-billion dirham global business that has experienced rapid growth in the previous months as consumers increasingly explore alternatives to diamonds for their special jewellery and occasional pieces, the most popular of which in the UAE are consistently ruby, emerald and sapphires.

“What the International Colored Gemstone Association is witnessing here in the UAE as regards promoting the coloured gems business is phenomenal,” said Joseph Menzie, the New York-based International Colored Gemstone Association president, at the opening ceremony of the ICA World Congress.

“In a region that culturally embraces colour in every aspect of people’s day to day and ceremonial life, where sales of emeralds, rubies and sapphires, as well as the myriad of other gemstones, set the pace for other global markets, we applaud the efforts of DMCC and the Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group to raise the profile and develop the coloured stones industry to these impressive heights. New benchmarks in business development and marketing are being set here, and the ICA is committed to work with these industry bodies in any and all ways possible to promote the Emirates to our global gem network and to create a new and exciting global gateway for the gemstone trade.”

Also discussing regionally relevant gemstone topics ranging from DMCC's Role in the Gems Industry to Diamond and Gem Certification from a Middle East Perspective, were an impressive line-up of speakers from the UAE’s jewellery and gemstone sector, including: Tawfic Farah, executive director-diamonds and coloured stones (DMCC); Peter Meeus advisor-diamonds (DMCC); Chandu Siroya, vice-chairman of the Dubai Gold & Jewellery Group; Youri Steverlynck, CEO, Dubai Diamond Exchange; Amit Dhamani, managing director of Dhamani Jewels; Sarwat Razzak,  director, ARY Jewellery; and Laurent Grenier de Cardenal, director, Dubai Gem Certification Laboratories.

The International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA) is a non-profit association which was founded in 1984 to represent the international gemstone industry. – TradeArabia News Service