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We had exhibited at June Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair, held at Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre for 4 days from 20/06/2019 to 24/06/2019．
The impact of trade friction between the US and China is accelerating the global economic slowdown． The financial markets, which are concerned about the global economic downturn, have not settled as well, and the value of global stocks has fallen by 400 trillion yen in the past 1 month. The global stock prices are falling as the market continues to be swayed by external factors such as trade friction between the US and China. Business confidence is deteriorating in the US and China, the core of these economies, and political risks are threatening to further slowdown the economy．
Other factors behind the economic slowdown include the slowing of semiconductor sales due to the deterioration of the IT cycle, the fall in crude oil prices due to oversupply, and the progress of the dollar appreciation against currencies other than yen． Even if we look at Europe, the Brexit problem in the United Kingdom or political instability in Germany and France have made the leading countries in the EU very unstable, which is a factor of the economic slowdown．
The deepening trade friction between the US and China, the spread of protectionism in other countries, the slowdown in the Chinese economy, and the political turmoil in the US have had a major impact on companies around the world． The business environment for companies in many countries is rapidly deteriorating due to sluggish external demand, a decline in production and exports, and downward pressure on the economies of many countries．Also in Japan, the economic trend index has been revised downward, and it has been announced that the standard judgment is deteriorating, first time in six years． Concerns about a protracted trade conflict between the US and China urged global investment money to begin preparing for an economic downturn, and is flowing into government bonds of developed countries and the yen in search of safety．If the yen continues to appreciate, the performance of Japanese exporters will decline, and leading to a further economic slowdown．
Also, the world’s industries are undergoing dramatic changes due to the evolution of technology． In addition to the widespread use of smartphones, digital technologies such as AI and robots are beginning to cause digital disruption in various industries, which will drastically destroy business styles based on analog technology．In our industry, the business environment has changed due to the expansion of flea market applications, and the number of companies that go bankrupt has been increasing． The growth of C to C applications such as flea market applications will continue to gain momentum, and the market is expected to shift further to the internet． The world is currently in chaos, both politically and economically．
In Hong Kong, where the jewelry show was held this year, 1 million to 2 million protesters had demonstrated against steamrolling of revision proposal of “extradition bill” which allows suspects in criminal cases to be transferred to mainland China． If the revised proposal is passed, those whom China considers problematic will be extradited, and there will be no freedom of speech in Hong Kong．A large-scale demonstration arose from the fear that Hong Kong, which should originally be protected by the One Country and Two Institutions system, would shift to a Chinese-style legal and governance system and democracy might collapses． This is likely to affect the local Hong Kong economy． Hong Kong is a customs territory different from mainland China, and people and money are gathering from around the world because of its low level of regulations． However, if Hong Kong shifts to Chinese-style law and governance system in the future, people and money would flow out of country, which might change its economy and the shape of the country．
This jewelry show was held at a time when there were many uneasy factors in the world． Due to the influence of the current world situation, it seemed that the number of visitors was much smaller than usual from the first day of the event． Also, the number of buyers from China was quite small, and I felt that they were less motivated to buy． Furthermore, it seemed that local Hong Kong people were less motivated to buy, probably because the atmosphere was not good due to the influence of the demonstration．The people who came to the event this time, while paying attention to the future situation, they did not buy anything unless it was something new or a good value． I believe that the politics and economy of the world have influenced our industry and it have been a tough jewelry show to both the visitors and the exhibitors at this time．
The world is expected to become increasingly chaotic as the US announced additional economic sanctions against Iran on 24th. We need to keep our eyes on how it affects our industry. Thank you very much, from bottom of my heart, to all of you who came despite the difficult situation. We look forward to working with you together to overcome this situation．
