Diamond World (DW) May - June 2020

SPECIAL REPORT
Earrings, Oriental Gemco
and skill many countries world over are
dependent on, managed to beat the virus
and its resurgence as well, thanks to its
citizens. Perhaps it was the experience
from SARS and many other epidemics
before that, the people of Hong Kong are
definitely equipped to handle a pandemic
of this scale better than most countries
– they are organized and have a sense
of self-discipline, so much so that even
when the Government banned masks,
Hong Kongers went onto wear masks,
distributing them and encouraging fellow
citizens to wear them.
Life is back to normal today, with
restaurants, bars and stores having
opened up late June. However, people are
erring on the side of caution with social
distancing norms in place. It has been
a cruel year for Hong Kong – a bustling
city with thriving economic activities has
been subject to one blow after the other.
The pro-domestic protests that engulfed
the city in 2019 are still ongoing and
the threat of the virus brought the city
to a standstill for nearly 3 months. The
imposition of National Security Law might
spark more confusion and trouble for the
business community in Hong Kong. One
of the biggest revenues for the city is
tourism, which has been badly hit since
March and with the government imposing
restrictions on foreigners flying into the
country, it looks like tourism will remain
affected for the foreseeable future.
An export driven market
Hong Kong depends on the exports
mainly, especially China, U.S. and the
Middle East. The Middle East has been
in a complete lock down and business
from the region is nil. “We’ve been
getting orders from the U.S. mainly from
TV shopping network companies and
some online companies. China has also
completely opened up, so we are getting
steady demand from there as well,” says
Gaurav Nigam of Oriental Gemco. The
survival mode for the jewellery industry
in Hong Kong right now is entirely
through opportunities they are getting
from China as well as the U.S. Until
April, businesses in Hong Kong were
badly hit because of logistical issues and
exports were definitely down and India
being shut completely obviously didn’t
help. Markets started opening up in May
and in June, the market started slowly
picking up. Of course, the market isn’t
booming but it is not all that bad because
all major hubs of jewellery and diamonds
like Antwerp, New York and some parts
of Asia are all open and Europe will
fully open up mid July. “We went into
Fancy colour diamonds, Kunming Diamonds
We’ve been getting
orders from the
U.S. mainly from
TV shopping
network companies
and some online
companies. For
most retailers
around the world,
things are looking
bad and Hong Kong
is no different.
When we ask for
payments they
want to return
the goods. But we
are cooperating
with them. We are
being patient and
extending the credit
by six months
Gaurav Nigam,
Oriental Gemco
DiamonD WorlD | may-june 2020 | 89