Eastern Thai province to become "gems and jewelry city"

BANGKOK, August 15 (TNA) - The Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand (GIT) says that it is promoting the eastern Chantaburi Province as a "gems and jewelry city" in the country, where its production and design standard of the precious stones will be upgraded to meet international criteria. GIT Director Duangkamol Jiambutr told journalists of the move on Wednesday, after paying a field visit to the eastern Thai province to seek locals' opinions on the move. Duangkamol revealed that to support the move, GIT has proposed to the Thai government to speed up strengthening the potential of local business operators and community enterprises of gems and jewelry and to enhance their competitiveness on the world market through the development of their product quality and design standards to meet the market demand. Besides, the Thai government has been proposed to promote and support gems and jewelry trade through the e-commerce system, along with regularly organizing gems and jewelry trade fairs and other activities in the province. The GIT director acknowledged that over 80 per cent of rough colored stones from other economies worldwide have been shipped for cutting and quality upgrade services in Chantaburi, supporting the eastern Thai province to become a production and trade hub of the colored stones in the country. According to the GIT director, her public organization also plans to work together with the state-run Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to promote Chantaburi as a major gems and jewelry tourist destination for international visitors. Based on GIT statistics, Thai gems and jewelry exports have earned the country more than one trillion baht annually and have also promoted such related businesses as those in the domestic fashion, printing and design sectors. (TNA)