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Premier of Canada's Northwest Territories (NWT) Mr Joseph Handley wants the Territories to sparkle in Asia, using Hong Kong as the platform to promote its diamond trade and tourist industry.
The Premier today (April 10, Toronto time) visited the Director of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (Canada), Mr Bassanio So, and the Director (Canada) of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Mr Andrew Yui, in Toronto, and sought their views on getting Canadian diamonds polished, processed and set in Hong Kong, which is known as the fourth largest exporter of precious jewellery in the world.
The visit followed Mr So's trip to Yellowknife, the provincial capital, last August, which set the scene for further discussions on collaboration opportunities between the two places. Mr So discussed with Premier Handley the possibility of incorporating Yellowknife's unique aboriginal design in Hong Kong diamond design industry. He also mentioned the high quality testing services on precious jewellery from professional institutions such as the International Gemological Institute in Hong Kong.
The Premier and the two top Hong Kong trade officials discussed the feasibility of having the unique NWT diamonds, especially the medium and small size stones, polished and crafted in Hong Kong or through Hong Kong in neighbouring mainland Chinese cities, while retaining their identity as Canadian stones. "We don't have the capacity to process all the diamonds we produce," Mr Handley said.
On the marketing side, Mr Handley said NWT was right now focusing mainly on the American market. "We need diversification. Hong Kong's market is global, and the China market is huge," he said. The Premier said he was looking for opportunities in expanding bilateral trade and investment between NWT and Hong Kong in diamond and tourist industries.
"We are interested in expanding our tourist industry to attract people from Hong Kong and China, beyond our traditional Japanese and American markets," he said. The colourful streams of light that appear in the northern night sky were the inspiration behind the creation of the celebrated Northern Lights diamonds. Canadian diamonds and the Northern Lights serve as main attractions for tourists exploring the Canadian north.
The NWT is currently one of the top three producers of diamonds in the world. Through the Department of Industry, Tourism & Investment, the NWT works with partners to develop diamond marketing and tourism opportunities. As a major player in diamond industry, NWT will soon be producing about 15% of the world's diamonds.
Mr So said the prospective collaboration would be a perfect match since Hong Kong's jewellery industry was dominated by the precious jewellery sector. "While Hong Kong's jewellery industry is by and large oriented towards export trade, its development has been facilitated by its market expansion, including sales to the large number of tourists from mainland China."
"Hong Kong's jewellery industry is known for flexibility in accommodating customer needs," Mr So said. "Production of fine jewellery encompasses a wide range of medium of high-priced products. The most popular product category is gem-set jewellery, particularly diamonds set in gold."
He added that Hong Kong manufacturers were strong at producing small stones jewellery with elements of contemporary fashion, and their gem-setting skills and design capability were competitive compared with world-class European manufacturers.
Mr So encouraged the Premier to lead a delegation to Hong Kong later this year to meet people from the jewellery industry.
Ends/Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Issued at HKT 11:03
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