YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian-Indian cooperation in the gem and jewellery industry can produce good results, especially in terms of setting up joint ventures. Gagik Mkrtchian, Head of the Gem and Jewellery Department of the RA Ministry of Trade and Economic Development, stated this in Yerevan on August 31 during an event to present the gem and jewellery sector of the Indian economy. According to him, such an attempt has already been made: an Armenian-Indian jewellery design institute will be founded in Yerevan by late 2006. He said that the Armenin legislation on gem and jewellery industry is one of the best in the world, which is also evident from the large amount of foreign investments in this sector. The event was organized by India's Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council's (GJEPC) delegation that arrived in Armenia on August 31. The delegation is headed by Sanjay Kothari who expressed confidence that out of the delegation's visits to Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, the last one will be the most successful. He noted that the delegation is composed of businessmen representing all sections of India's gem and jewellery industry. In the opinion of Emil Grigorian, Chairman of Armenia's Gem and Jewellery Makers Association, a body to perform the functions of GJEPC should be established in Armenia. He noted that Armenia should use the Indian experience of jewellery marketing, thanks to which Indian businessmen sell about 1,000 tons of jewellery a year in India, and approximately the same amount is sold abroad. Most of Indian jewellery is manufactured by small and medium enterprises (the GJEPC represents some 7,000 Indian jewellers). In 2004-2005, production of the gem and jewellery industry accounted for 18% of India's industrial production exports. According to some forecasts, in 2005-2006 fiscal year, the sector's production will amount to 16.7 billion USD. 11 out of every 12 diamonds used in the world are produced in India. In 2005, the production of Armenia's gem and jewellery industry made 220 million USD.

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