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Sylvia
Ritter
Show Director, Baselworld
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"Yes,
Baseworld is getting bigger and grander,” says Sylvia Ritter, Show
Director, Baselworld, as we corner her for an informal tete-a-tete
during the week-long event. “We believe the climate of confidence
engendered by Baselworld gives the whole sector a positive injection
of energy.”
Baselworld
is the pivot of an industry and has boosted the annual growth in
the luxury goods market. In the last few years the layout of the
halls and Exhibition Square at Baselworld has become eye-catching
and attractive. “For the 2007 show, the forecourt, the foyer and
the interior decoration of Hall 1 have been completely renovated
and modernised. These innovations will create an upmarket ambiance
and form the perfect backdrop against which to view the rich variety
of brands on show,” says Ritter.
In
fact, over the years Baselword has not just remained a major platform
for the international watch industry but gone much beyond becoming
the international showcase for high quality jewellery design, for
pearls and for the precious stone sector. This year, around 2100
companies participated in the show, which was held in the month
of April
“Our
concept of dividing the Show into clearly defined segments and placing
exhibitors in the halls according to their position in the market
has really paid off and met with a positive reception from everyone
involved, “ informs Ritter.
The
Swiss watch industry exports nearly 95% of its production. Asia
and Oceania take 33.8% of Swiss watch exports in value, Europe 37.7%,
North America 18.6%, the Middle East 5.3%, South America 3.9% and
Africa 0.7%. The Swiss watch industry today is one of the brightest
stars in the Swiss economic firmament. Better still, during the
last five or six years, it has taken the leading position amongst
the country’s most successful industries, breaking its own records
in exporting each year and going from 4.3 billion francs in 1986
to more than 10 billion in 2000.
As
imports to India grows over the years and the country becomes a
jewellery hub Baselworld is looking for more involvement of the
Indian buyers. “We plan to have series of road shows in Indian cities
soon to attract more buyers to the show and explain to them why
visiting Baselworld makes sense,” Ritter says.
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Atushi
Kaneko
Managing Director, Seiko India
How
large is the watch business for Seiko in terms of sales revenues
and markets and people internationally?
Presently
I don’t have the exact numbers but I can tell you about the consolidated
turnover for the watch corporation for March for fiscal year of
2006 was 107 billion yen which is equivalent to 970 million US dollars.
That is simply the watch business and that is around half of the
total turnover of Seiko Corporation.
And
in terms of number of markets and people, how large is Seiko's watch
business?
In
seventy five countries we are exporting these.
And
how many would be subsidiaries?
That
would be only eleven and that is not including India, you are twelfth.
It shows our enthusiasm our determination and our judgment as how
important this market is to us Only in the major markets like US
and UK we are setting up our own subsidiaries and those are the
countries which are strategically important to us and India is one
of those countries where we would like to have a direct control
over what goes on here.
And
how much of the Seiko’s watch business is in Japan?
The
Japanese market is representing just about 30% of our international
turnover.
What
will be the main products for the Indian market?
We
have three critical ranges for in India; Spring Drive which is in
the higher end for the watch connoisseur, then the Premier Range
which includes Kinetic which is a patented concept and there is
Sportura which is associated with Formula 1 sports. In the season
we will also bring out the Velatura collection. It will be launched
across the world uniformly.
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