RAPAPORT... India hosted the 10th annual general meeting of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) during which the organization announced its first executive committee member from civil society, Estelle Levin of Estelle Levin Ltd., who was also named as co-chair of the standards committee.
RJC has made significant progress in India, especially over the past two years, and is fully committed to working with the trade and local institutions to integrate with this key market. To this end, the RJC appointed Kinjal Shah as its country head for India.
Sabyasachi Ray, the executive director of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), told Rapaport News, “It is indeed a matter of pride that RJC chose India to host its 10th annual meeting. As part of their visit, we decided to take them on a tour of key places for the gems and jewelry industry in Mumbai and Surat. Destinations included the Bharat Diamond Bourse and the SEEPZ -- Special Economic Zone, Zaveri Bazaar and Opera House, where SEEPZ, Opera House and Surat are the key manufacturing centers, our visit to Zaveri Bazaar was to show RJC how jewelry selling takes place.”
Ray further added that on the sidelines of the general meeting, there was a seminar with speakers from Estelle Levin, Rio Tinto and others, to share experiences and expertise in moving RJC forward. He elaborated, “RJC needs to know about the problems facing the industry and the interaction facilitated this discussion.”
This event marked the first time RJC held the annual meeting outside of Europe. The GJEPC and Bharat Diamond Bourse co-hosted the event. Attendees included leading members of the Indian and international industry, senior U.S. government representatives and civil society.
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