Two of the industry’s biggest B2B sourcing events will be back in action in Hong Kong in 2023 following a three-year forced pandemic break, Informa Markets Jewellery has announced.
Jewellery & Gem ASIA Hong Kong (JGA), previously known as the June Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair, will be held live and in person 22-25 June at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), while the trade’s flagship show – Jewellery & Gem WORLD Hong Kong (JGW), formerly called the September Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair – will return to its original two-venue, product category-specific format.
The jewellery materials section of JGW will be hosted at the AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE) 18-22 September, while categories spanning finished jewellery, packaging solutions, tools and equipment, and jewellery industry-related technologies will be presented at the HKCEC 20-24 September. Further adding excitement to the September Fair’s return is a series of celebrations marking its 40th anniversary next year.
“We look forward to hosting the greatest in jewellery and gemstones back in Hong Kong in 2023 as pandemic restrictions recede,” said David Bondi, senior vice-president of Informa Markets in Asia. “What the last three years have proven is that the jewellery sourcing experience is just not the same without our full-fledged, international B2B fairs in Hong Kong. Our jewellery community wants the shows. So, we are pulling out all the stops to make sure we deliver the fairs in their most familiar form next year.”
Industry support
To serve the trade’s immediate needs, Informa Markets Jewellery successfully pivoted in unchartered territories – organising special in-person editions of JGA and JGW in 2021 and 2022, and exporting a reformatted version of the September Fair to Singapore less than a month ago – a first in the show’s nearly four-decade long history.
And now, the fair organiser is gearing up for what is shaping up to be the industry’s biggest in-person B2B fairs since the pandemic began.
“We cannot wait to welcome everyone back to Hong Kong. We recognise that certain things are beyond our control, but we are optimistic that the city will move towards further reopening when conditions allow,” said Celine Lau, director of Jewellery Fairs at Informa Markets Jewellery. “There is genuine excitement expressed by so many in our community for the eventual return of the June and September Fairs. It is not even a question of whether they will join the shows, but more of when should they book their flights to Hong Kong?”
JGA and JGW are vital to a reenergised industry on the cusp of recovery, trade association leaders said.
Cheung King Yau, chairman of the Hong Kong Jewellery & Jade Manufacturers Association (HKJJA), said the return of large-scale B2B jewellery events in Hong Kong will be widely supported and enthusiastically received, not only in Hong Kong, but all over the world.
“As one of Hong Kong’s jewellery manufacturers associations, we speak in one voice as an industry when we say that we are looking forward to the return of international B2B exhibitions in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a business hub, and all buyers are eager to source goods and meet numerous quality suppliers at well-known exhibitions. These high-profile events are among the driving forces behind the revitalisation of Hong Kong’s economy,” Cheung said.
Lawrence Ma, founding president and chairman of the Diamond Federation of Hong Kong (DFHK), said the jewellery community is “looking forward to the return of two of the industry’s top B2B jewellery fairs in Asia’s centre of jewellery and gemstone trade – Hong Kong.”
Aviel Elia, CEO of the Israel Diamond Institute (IDI), shared Ma’s sentiments.
“We are very excited to come back to Hong Kong and participate in Informa’s 2023 world-class events – Jewellery & Gem ASIA in June and Jewellery & Gem WORLD in September,” Elia said. “With the easing of pandemic restrictions, we can hardly wait to meet with all our friends and colleagues in Southeast Asia and do business face to face, like we always appreciated in the diamond industry, based on trust and personal relationships. The IDI plans to host Israeli diamond pavilions during these events, with the very best stones our industry has to offer.”
