Gems, jewellery industry to seek Thai govt support

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JEWELLERY
Gems, jewellery industry to seek govt support
Petchanet Pratruangkrai
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The gems and jewellery industry plans to ask for the government's support on four main issues in a bid to double the share of Thai exports of these products in the world market to 4 per cent within five years.

The proposal is to be made at a meeting on December 4 between Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and chief executive officers of key industries, mainly in food, gems and jewellery, and services.

The meeting is aimed at voicing private enterprises' opinions and complaints.

Somchai Phornchindarak, president of the Gems, Jewelry and Precious Metal Confederation of Thailand (GJPCT) and former president of the Thai Gems and Jewellery Association, said his industry was facing four key problems: Shortage of skilled labour, lack of support for research and development, low financial liquidity, and the high cost of importing raw materials.

Somchai Phornchindarak, president of the Gems, Jewelry and Precious Metal Confederation of Thailand (GJPCT) and former president of the Thai Gems and Jewellery Association, said his industry was facing four key problems: Shortage of skilled labour, lack of support for research and development, low financial liquidity, and the high cost of importing raw materials.

During the upcoming meeting, the industry will address those four problems and ask for the government's support in dealing with them.

To help promote this industry, which provides one of the Kingdom's top 10 export products, Somchai said the government should waive import tariffs for raw materials for enterprises that aim to re-export.

The association will also encourage the government to waive value-added tax (VAT) for gems and jewellery sales within the country, as most buyers are foreigners, while Thais normally buy only gold.

The association also wants the government to allocate some funding for R&D in the industry, as well as increasing skilled labour. During the past five years, the industry has seen a reduction in workers, particularly skilled labourers, to fewer than a million from more than 1.2 million, Somchai said.

Moreover, the GJPCT will call for the government to increase liquidity for small and medium-sized enterprises in the gems and jewellery sector, as they have faced problems accessing soft loans. The government could re-establish the Gem Bank project, which should be administrated by a private organisation, so that it will better operated and can release soft loans to help SMEs in the industry.

If the government can support these plans, Somchai believes the Thai share of gems and jewellery products in the world market could double from the current 2 per cent to 4 per cent within five years.

Currently, the global value of gems and jewellery trading is about US$500 billion (Bt17.9 trillion) a year.

With signs of a recovery in global trading, Thai exports of gems and jewellery are expected to grow by 5 per cent next year from this year's approximate value of $10 billion.

In addition, to promote more domestic sales of gems and jewellery to foreign tourists, the GJPCT will urge the Tourism Ministry to put Bangkok gems and jewellery fairs on the travelling calendar, to be held every six months.

The association will also encourage the promotion of trading streets specialising in gems, jewellery and ornaments as symbolic tourist destinations. For instance, Charoen Krung Road and Khaosan Road could be promoted as silver-ornaments trading streets, Yaowarat Road as a gold street, and Silom and Mahesak as precious-stones streets.

Malee Choklumlerd, director-general of the International Trade Promotion Department, said her agency would also voice concerns and sum up proposals from other industries at the meeting with Prayut so that the government can draw concrete strategies to drive trade growth for particular industries.

She said exports were expected to recover next year amid global trading recovery and higher demand for agricultural crops and goods in many markets, especially in Asean, the United States, and emerging countries.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Gems-jewellery-industry-to-seek-govt-support-30272799.html


-- The Nation 2015-11-13

[puukao]

First time in Thailand....I met a tuk tuk driver and he took me straight to the cheapest and best jade store in the world!!!

I spent 1,000,000 baht on great deals on Jade!!!!

Hold on......this dark green is bleeding on my clothes......and i thought it should be lighter color??

i'll go back to store.....oh wait, they are closed..... let me call the tuk tuk driver.....oh, he retired....

[shirtless]

another industry crying poor, in most countries you go bankrupt.

[NongKhaiKid]

What's wrong, surely the hi-so haven't stopped buying their trinkets !

[Prbkk]

When the more serious buyers prefer to go to India for reputable, safe, honest trade, the Thai industry needs to recognise it has a credibility problem ( and even though that problem has been apparent for many years, it did little by way of self regulation). Now it wants the govt to help.

[ezzra]

puukao, on 13 Nov 2015 - 04:43, said:puukao, on 13 Nov 2015 - 04:43, said:

First time in Thailand....I met a tuk tuk driver and he took me straight to the cheapest and best jade store in the world!!!

I spent 1,000,000 baht on great deals on Jade!!!!

Hold on......this dark green is bleeding on my clothes......and i thought it should be lighter color??

i'll go back to store.....oh wait, they are closed..... let me call the tuk tuk driver.....oh, he retired....

You were lucky to get that deal as this shop was open while all the other shops were ' closed due to a holiday ' and that shop

had a ' cheap promotion going on ' and only sells to government officials but some how the driver got you in....

Edited November 12, 2015 by ezzra

[ezzra]

I was part of this industry for more than 10 years with factory in BKK and in Khon Kean and in Vientian Laos,

employing hundreds of workers,those days we use to pay basic government awards salaries of 5-6,000

a month......

Nowadays, the salaries are at 5 time as much and more, the skill level, productions quantities, the tenacity and loyalty

of the Thai works remain the same, so you do the math... Thailand has lost it's competitive edge long time ago,

[AGareth2]

can Thailand afford all these subs'

[worgeordie]

It will be the Mom and Pop corner shops next week,everybody needs help

from the Government,the minorities seeking help from the majorities tax

payments.

regards Worgeordie

[deckape]

Simple way to fix this industry. Change the frequency of "Amazing Thailand" month to every month.

[sawadee1947]

they are absolutely right. They need help. It's totally unfair to support the fisher men, the rubber farmers and rice farmers. I think everybody should be supported by the government at least by money.

[Ulic]

Thais by gold because there are well aware of the gem scams in Thailand.

[Doc46]

Are they Serious ? An Other industry that sells junk want to beg the Government for Help,,sell decent stuff than your business works.

[fang37]

Jewelry industry in Thailand .................... pathetic.

Six years ago, I bought a diamond, emerald & ruby in India. Diamond & emerald were USD15k each & ruby was USD4k.

I did my homework re markups.

My recollection - I paid less than 50% of the ask price.

In Thailand, if I choose to sell, no one is interested. Not even a ridiculous offer to buy.

[elgordo38]

Jewelry industry in Thailand .................... pathetic.

Six years ago, I bought a diamond, emerald & ruby in India. Diamond & emerald were USD15k each & ruby was USD4k.

I did my homework re markups.

My recollection - I paid less than 50% of the ask price.

In Thailand, if I choose to sell, no one is interested. Not even a ridiculous offer to buy.

When you go to buy jewelry there is none similar available and the price is high. When you go to sell they are worthless and every Tom Dick and Harry has one. Its the same in stamps coins you name it. Been there done that.

[fang37]

I've already given the ruby to the FIL.

The rest - that will be the wife's problem when I die.

However, what you say - too true.