Russian jewelry retailers are keen to import Indian-made product despite the high 42 percent import tariff barrier. The price points that Indian-manufactured jewelry is being offered at are “very acceptable” to the Russian retail fraternity.

This was stated by Indian and Russian participants in the second Indo-Russian Jewellery Summit, a one-on-one buyer-seller networking event organized by the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC). The four-day event featured two days of meetings and two days of factory visits which offered Russian participants the opportunity to assess the manufacturing capabilities of potential suppliers.

“We regularly see Indian companies at international trade shows and events, but after having participated in this event, we understand fully, the scope of India’s manufacturing capabilities,” said one Russian distributor.

Sanjay Kothari, who heads the GJEPC’s Promotion, Marketing and Business Development committee, said that the GJEPC had got very positive feedback from both Indian and Russian participants. “The one-on-one format has proved to be very efficient and the feedback we have is that it is much preferred to the open trade show format.”

The GJEPC had adjudged the event to be a success, Kothari added,  by the fact that between 60- and 70 percent of the Indian participants were repeat entries. Irina Litvinova of the Moscow Diamond Bourse, which coordinated the event from the Russian end, said that between 60- and 70 percent of the Russian firms that participated in the first event last year were in the process of developing business with Indian suppliers.

Kunal Vora of Goldiam, one of the Indian participans, said the Indians found the Russians very organized and clear about such matters as inventory turns and price points. The Russian design requirement was more European in nature and the product demand more for the mass market, he added.