The American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) arrived in Myanmar for the first time to assess the gems sector and discuss bilateral trade between United State and Myanmar with officials from the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers and Commerce Industry (UMFCCI) on October 4.
President of the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA), Jeffrey Bilgore, led a delegation of five which includes AGTA’s CEO Douglas Hucker, Jewelers of America (JA) President and CEO David J. Bonaparte, the Gemological Institute of America’s (GIA) Dr. Jim Shigley, and Timothy Haake of Haake/ Fetzer, senior counsel to JA to meet the UMFCCI’s vice chairman, Dr. Maung Maung Lay and members of the Myanmar Gems and Jewelry Entrepreneurs’ Association (MGJEA) and discussed the gem market in Myanmar.
It was described in a joint statement that the main purpose of the visit was to re-establish direct lines of commerce between Burma and the United States. “Our goal in coming here is to show and to demonstrate to the world that the gem sector in Myanmar is as worthy as any in the world and that commerce can only help all of us improve and make democracy stronger,” Bilgore says
The 35-year-old AGTA promotes transparent supply chains and honest business dealings in the global gem industry. The statement also said that Myanmar’s gem industry is comparable to any other in the world.
“Our goal here is to help in the development of the new rules, to show you how we do business and hopefully we can help each other grow,” Bilgore says. This is the first meeting between US gem traders and Myanmar gem traders since US president Barak Obama pledged to lift economic sanctions on Myanmar last month.
