Press Release - April 10, 2007

The Honourable Joseph Handley, Premier of the Northwest Territories (NWT), wants to sparkle in Asia, using Hong Kong as the platform to promote its diamond trade and tourist industry.

The Premier today (Tuesday) visited the Director of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (Canada), Mr Bassanio So; and the Director (Canada) of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Mr Andrew Yui, in Toronto, and sought their views on getting Canadian diamonds polished, processed and set in Hong Kong, which is known as the 4th largest exporter of precious jewellery in the world.

The visit followed Mr Bassanio So’s trip to Yellownife last August, which set the scene for further discussions on collaboration opportunities between the two places. Mr So discussed with Premier Handley the possibility of incorporating Yellowknife’s unique aboriginal design in Hong Kong diamond design industry. He also mentioned about the high quality testing services on precious jewellery from professional institutions such as the International Gemological Institute in Hong Kong.

The Premier and the two top Hong Kong trade officials discussed the feasibility of having the unique NWT diamonds, especially the medium and small size stones, polished and crafted in Hong Kong or through Hong Kong in the neighbouring mainland Chinese cities, while retaining their identity as Canadian stones. “We don’t have the capacity to process all the diamonds we produce,” said Premier Handley.

On the marketing side, Premier Handley said NWT is right now focusing mainly on the American market. “We need diversification. Hong Kong’s market is global, and the China market is huge,” he said. The Premier said he was looking for opportunities in expanding bilateral trade and investment between NWT and Hong Kong in diamond and tourist industries.

“We are interested to expand our tourist industry to attract people from Hong Kong and China, beyond our traditional Japanese and American markets,” said Premier Handley. The colourful streams of light that appear in the northern night sky were the inspiration behind the creation of the celebrated Northern Lights diamonds. Canadian diamonds and the Northern Lights serve as main tourist attractions for tourists to explore the Canadian north.

The NWT is currently one of the top three producers of diamonds in the world. Through the Department of Industry, Tourism & Investment, the NWT works with partners to develop diamond marketing and tourism opportunities. As a major player in diamond industry, NWT will soon be producing about 15 per cent of the world’s diamonds.

Mr So considered that the prospective collaboration would be a perfect match since Hong Kong’s jewellery industry is dominated by the precious jewellery sector. “While Hong Kong’s jewellery industry is by and large oriented towards export trade, its development has been facilitated by its market expansion, including sales to the large number of tourists from mainland China.”

“Hong Kong’s jewellery industry is known for flexibility in accommodating customer needs,” said Mr So. “Production of fine jewellery encompasses a wide range of medium of high-priced products. The most popular product category is gem-set jewellery, particularly diamonds set in gold.”

He added that Hong Kong manufacturers are strong at producing small stones jewellery with elements of contemporary fashion, and their gem-setting skills and design capability are competitive compared with world-class European manufacturers.

Mr So encouraged the Premier to lead a delegation to Hong Kong later this year to meet with people from the jewellery industry there.
(second left), and the Deputy Director of the HKETO, Mr Francis Ho (right).

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For more information, please contact:
Stephen Siu, Assistant Director (Public Relations), Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office at: (416)924-5544 or email: [email protected] or
Elison Chu, Senior Information Officer, [email protected]

(Photo caption 1) Premier Joseph Handley (left) at today's (Tuesday) meeting, discusses with the Director of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office in Canada, Mr Bassanio So, the possibility of incorporating Yellowknife's unique aboriginal design in Hong Kong diamond design industry.

(Photo caption 2) The Director of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada, Mr Bassanio So (second right) presents a souvenir to Premier of the Northwest Territories, Mr Joseph Handley (centre), after the meeting. Also pictured are the Principle Consultant, Invest Hong Kong, Ms Shirley Wong (left), the Director (Canada) of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Mr Andrew Yui (second left), and the Deputy Director of the HKETO, Mr Francis Ho (right).

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