37th World Diamond Congress concludes

The 37th World Diamond Congress in Dubai concluded after three days of discussions on in-depth view of the issues affecting the global diamond sector under the themes of 'Transparency, Responsibility, Sustainability'. The Congress is the biennial meeting of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA).

"I was delighted with the attendance at the Congress with every session being full and the interest and seriousness shown by the many delegates, along with the quality of the speakers," said WFDB President Ernie Blom. "We covered a huge amount of ground and were able to have very lengthy and profound discussions. It is critical that we hear global perspectives and the views of all members of the diamond pipeline and feed them into our comprehensive implementation programme.”

He further added that, "The Congress also saw promising progress in the development of our international Young Diamantaires group. These are members of the younger generation of diamond firms from all the main diamond centres, including Israel, India, Belgium, the United States and South Africa, who are taking responsibility for taking on the challenge of leading our industry in the future. "

The WFDB also said that it recognizes the importance of increasing transparency and integrity in the global diamond supply chain in order to boost consumer confidence in diamonds. "We are proud that the global diamond business is one of the best regulated industries in the world, and we have been at the forefront in proactively seeking to ensure that this continues.”

He also noted that, “The WFDB would like to put on record that it respects the right of diamond companies to make agreements and implement protocols with other parties, and that, together with the WFDB's rules and regulations that our members stringently follow, we are striving to guarantee a transparent supply chain. Furthermore, the WFDB is in ongoing communication with its affiliated diamond bourses to implement and enforce all relevant rules and regulations," he added.

The WFDB agreed that the next Presidents Meeting in 2017 will be hosted by the Bharat Diamond Bourse, while the 38th World Diamond Congress in 2018 will be hosted by the Israel Diamond Exchange.