Gold Ankara 2008 trade fair opens its doors
Posted by meb at November 7th, 2008
The third International Jewelry, Silver and Watch Fair, also called Gold Ankara 2008, has begun.
A total of 75 companies are participating in the trade fair, which is being held at Ankara’s ANFA Altınpark Expo Center. Not open to the general public, this is a specialty trade fair for members of the jewelry sector. Companies participating in the fair insist that the global crisis has not yet affected their sector, stating that the designs on display at the fair only serve to solidify Turkey’s position as second in the world when it comes to gold and jewelry design.
Alibey Şimşek, representing the Balaban jewelry firm at the trade fair, said his company was number one in Turkey in terms of 23 carat gold production and that the seemingly low level of interest shown by visitors on the first day of the fair was misleading. He noted that the weekend promised a heavier flow of participants and that this was a pattern his company had seen at the first two trade fairs in this series. Şimşek also drew attention to the antidote effect of trade fairs during periods of financial crisis. “Trade fairs actually serve a very important role in terms of allowing firms to introduce their products and in terms of keeping competition in the sector on its feet. These days, it is not those with the most capital in our sector who can stay on their feet, but those who are offering the richest designs and the most variety in their products. For this reason, this year’s trade fair has many companies participating which offer extremely rich design options. Since the best place to present these designs is a trade fair, we are expecting important results from this.”
Şimşek also noted that Turkey’s jewelry sector was second only to Italy’s in the world, saying:
“As a sector, we bring significant amounts of foreign currency into Turkey. With our trade fairs, we are preparing for international competition. The global financial crisis has not yet reared its head in our sector. But as a sector, we need to take certain precautions before the crisis does have an impact on our ranks. And the most important precautions we can take in terms of preserving the consumer sector are presenting consumers with new designs and making these presentations in a manner that will keep this sector lively.”
Salih Özkan, a representative from Midas Jewelry, noted that his company tried to appeal to both domestic and international markets, reiterating that he didn’t think the financial crisis had affected the Turkish jewelry sector.
Complaining about the relative lack of interest in the newly opened trade fair, Özkan said the large jewelry trade fair held in İstanbul had overshadowed the Anatolian trade fair, but that, nonetheless, his company’s expectations were high for the Ankara event.
“In the Ankara region, merchants really aren’t yet ready for trade fair participation. What this means is a lower level of general interest. The İstanbul trade fair, with its stress on exports, attracts a lot of interest from Anatolian merchants. So the trade fairs held in Ankara and other places in Anatolia just don’t receive as much attention. Though there has been a decrease in the number of companies participating, this trade fair has an extremely rich range of designs,” said Özkan.
source: Today’s Zaman
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