Optimism Prevails at Baselworld

It’s still too soon to say what the outcome of Baselworld will be for diamantaires; early indications are mixed at best. Some are hailing the show as a great success (with plans for a bigger and better-located booth next year), while others are resigned to the fact that Basel is slow and just another necessary stop on the seemingly endless trade show merry-go-round.

Vimal Lakhani, managing director of Kiran Gems, is exhibiting at Basel for the first time, but he’s already got his sights set on 2009. Used to walking the floor at the show, Lakhani has a pretty good sense of foot traffic and confidently asserts that there are fewer people in Hall 3, a view echoed by others.

Image Courtesy of MCH Swiss Exhibition (Basel) Ltd.

“We are exhibiting for the first time for three reasons,” he says. “It’s a brand building exercise, we want to continue our relationship with our existing customers and we are looking to find new clients.”

 
In fact, he’s so happy with the show that he’s already thinking about taking a larger booth on the ground floor, which is certainly seeing more traffic than Kiran Export’s first-floor location.   

While not quite echoing Kiran Gem’s enthusiasm, Avi Paz, of the Israel-based Avi Paz Group calls Basel a “classic show,” which is always good. Although he says it’s too soon to say how this year’s vintage will turn out, he’s definitely been seeing some good traffic. ”We have a lot of appointments, our regular customers are coming to see us and we’ve also had some walk-ins,” he says, citing a good first few days.

Asked how the current economic situation in the U.S. is affecting his company, Paz admitted that, with 58 percent of exports going to the U.S., the situation is certainly impacting his trade.

However, the sanguine Paz also says there is a positive side to the decrease in the value of the dollar that people should not forget. “The interest rate of the dollar, which forms a lot of our expenses, has dropped. Fewer expenses will give us some oxygen, which is very important for our industry.”