Call made for creation of new global jewellery marketing body at 2nd Dubai City of Gold Conference

His ambitious call for the new body was made during an opening keynote speech to the 2nd Dubai City of Gold Conference held at the Emirates Towers Hotel and attended by senior Government speakers and leading industry representatives from around the world.

The conference has been organised under the patronage of His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defence and its theme is the growth of Dubai as a major international hub for the jewellery, gems and precious metals industry.

Tawhid Abdullah said a new global body was vital if the jewellery industry was to meet the enormous challenges and competition from highly organised multinational companies aggressively marketing lifestyle products.

He explained: "We have never faced this level of competition before for consumer spending. Our competition today comes from, fashion products, mobile telephones, perfumes, entertainment, travel and much more.

"These companies are investing millions of dollars to market their products - and a huge proportion is aimed at young people. The jewellery sector needs to match up.

"Modern teenagers are the future of our industry. To capture their interest and loyalty to our products we need to make sure that our products have a modern image and are seen as trendy and fashionable to them as other products on the market."

He also called for the conference to create a special committee that would galvanise the necessary resources to move towards creating the worldwide jewellery marketing body that could be officially launched at the next conference held by the Gold and Jewellery Group Dubai in 2004.

A special panel discussion on the issue was held late on the first day of the conference hosted by Kelvin Williams, Executive Director Marketing of the world's biggest gold mining company Anglo Gold with representatives from the gold, diamond, platinum, bullion and banking businesses.

Tawhid Abdullah added: "The different sector of our industry have to work more closely in partnership and share the burden of marketing and promotions of our products. To date the bulk of marketing has been led by retailers. That has to change and we must become more integrated to tackle the very real challenges that face our industry.

"We cannot sit back and do nothing. Our hope is that this conference will lead to a positive consensus among everyone benefiting from the jewellery business and I am confident that together we can achieve our vision for a powerful and unbeatable jewellery industry."

The event was opened in the presence of HE Dr. Mohammed Khalfan bin Khirbash, UAE Minister of State for Finance and Industry and HE Sultan bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman Dubai Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation.

A high profile list of international experts from global centres of industry expertise including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, India, Luxembourg, Japan, South Africa, Switzerland, UK and the USA will be present at the event that has now grown to cover two days. It is set to become one of the most influential annual events in the jewellery, gems and precious metals sector.

Speakers include:

• Kelvin Williams, Executive Director Marketing for the world's leading gold mining company, AngloGold
• John Wixley, Global Head, Structured Products, Standard Bank
• Stephen Lussier, Executive Director of the Diamond Trading Company (De Beers)
• James Courage, Chief Executive of the London-based Platinum Guild International
• Federico Minoli, Chairman of Uno A Erre, the Italian world leader in jewellery production
• Peter Meeus, Managing Director of the Antwerp Diamond High Council
• Erhard Oberli, Managing Director, Argor-Heraeus
• Dr. Ursula Oser, Vice President, Credit and Fixed Income Research, Credit Suisse.

The conference is organised by the Gold and Jewellery Group Dubai with the support of international, regional and local companies and organisations. This year the event is being organised with the support of the Dubai Metals and Commodities Centre and in association with Omega Investment Research of South Africa who have extensive international experience in the gold and precious metals sectors. The official carrier for the conference is Emirates Airline.

The two day conference has been separated into different modules to allow delegates to focus on a wide ranging areas of interest including:
• Trade related finance and investment;
• The marketing of precious metals, diamonds and gems
• Manufacturing
• Mining -featuring expert speakers from South Africa

Key sponsors for the conference are AngloGold, Standard Bank, Credit Suisse, Diamond Trading Council (De Beers) and the World Gold Council. Support sponsors are American Express, Commerzbank International SA, Fiera de Vicenza, National Bank of Dubai and Scotia Mocatta, Transguard and Sisma.