Turkish Retailer Delegation Visits Antwerp Diamond Industry
May 07, 15
(IDEX Online News) – A delegation of 16 Turkish jewelers, wholesalers and manufacturers spent two days in Antwerp this week as part of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre’s (AWDC) Diamond Visitor Program.
The visit followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between AWDC, Borsa Istanbul and the Turkish Jewelry Exporters Association last week.
The Visitor Program was the first time the AWDC had invited a group of foreign retailers to Antwerp to network with local diamond companies.
“This new approach was clearly successful,” says Margaux Donckier, spokeswoman for the AWDC. “Bringing potential clients to Antwerp allows us to demonstrate Antwerp’s unique strengths in terms of quality standards and the level of transparency we uphold to new and upcoming markets.”
Participants were also positive about the event, which follows the Turkish government’s recent decision to abolish import duties on diamonds. “Just a few months ago, the Turkish government abolished the import duties on diamonds, making it more interesting to increase…trade between Europe and Turkey at competitive prices,” said Turkish jeweler Kadir Gözkara from One Service. “Turkish jewelers no longer depend on a handful of wholesalers.”
The 20 Antwerp diamond companies that participated were also enthusiastic: “Turkey is an interesting market and through this AWDC initiative we managed to further expand our existing network significantly…,” said Jireh Chau from Brilliant Trading Company. Instead of Antwerp companies traveling to Turkey, [when] the Turkish retailers come to Antwerp [it] is not only more efficient and cost-effective, but also more interesting from a security point of view as we can show our goods in our own offices.”
“We have been present on the Turkish market for 34 years, but during this event, we managed to meet with new people, some of whom were important large jewelers,” said Shashin Choksi from Swati Gems. “The Turkish market has evolved tremendously over the past years, which creates new opportunities.”