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'Mines to Market' Conference Highlights: Day 2
Mar 20, 2017 6:48 AM
By Joshua Freedman
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RAPAPORT... After an action-packed first day of the "Mines to Market" conference in Mumbai, we're following developments at the final sessions of the event marking the 50th anniversary of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotions Council.
See our coverage of the first day here and of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the conference here.
1 a.m. EST: Fischler to Midstream: Stop Skimping on Costs
The diamond manufacturing sector must stop relying on low-cost solutions and put real investment into high-quality employees and technology, stressed Stephane Fischler, president of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre.
Fischler urged manufacturers and traders to change their business model of trying to protect their profit margins by being frugal in their operations.
“Stop being obsessed by cheap labor, cheap software and cheap computers,” he said Monday during a session exploring survival of the midstream. “Cheap is expensive,” he warned.
The subject of slim profit margins has come under scrutiny at the conference due to prevailing high rough prices and soft polished prices, with speakers offering a range of solutions for increasing profitability.
Investing in better technology and business solutions would enable better profitability for companies, Fischler said. The industry must also hire and promote more women, raise its investment in marketing and understand how to become more attractive to banks, he added.
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Tags:
diamonds, GJEPC, India, jewellery, Jewelry, Joshua Freedman, Rapaport News
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