Hong Kong Show to Take Place in Singapore

RAPAPORT… The organizers of the September Hong Kong diamond and jewelry show have temporarily moved the event to Singapore to enable overseas visitors to attend.

Jewellery & Gem World (JGW) will take place from September 27 to 30 at Singapore Expo, Informa Markets announced Wednesday. The change is a “one-off special arrangement applicable only in 2022,” the company said.

JGW, a major forum for preholiday sourcing, hasn’t gone ahead as a large, international exhibition since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Buyers and exhibitors from outside Hong Kong have been unable to attend due to stringent quarantine rules. Informa identified Singapore as the “ideal” location, noting that the city-state planned to ease travel and social restrictions steadily once the current virus wave peaked.

“The last two years have been extremely challenging for everybody, and we, as an industry, have been doing our utmost to not only keep businesses running, but moving forward,” said David Bondi, Informa’s senior vice president for Asia. “Industry stakeholders overwhelmingly told us they wanted safe and secure physical fairs that they could participate in.”

The move follows Informa’s recent launch of Jewellery, Gem & Technology (JGT) Dubai, a partnership with Italian Exhibition Group (IEG). The new show capitalized on Dubai’s relatively relaxed Covid-19 rules. The fair attracted buyers from 100 countries and regions, Informa reported.

The show will be branded as JGW Singapore. Informa will also host shows in Hong Kong in June and September, though travel to the municipality remains limited. In addition, the company will inaugurate Jewellery & Gem ASEAN Bangkok in November.

Image: Singapore. (Shutterstock)