AWDC announces launch of renewed KP website

AWDC, as member of the Administrative Support Mechanism (ASM), has launched a renewed version of the KP website, enabling it to be more user friendly and enhancing the efficiency and continuity of the KP by providing comprehensive tools and up-to-date KP knowledge and institutional memory.

In May 2013, during the World Diamond Council's (WDC) ninth annual meeting, the World Diamond Council and KP Chair Nhlapo signed an agreement to formally establish and operate the KP's permanent Administrative Support Mechanism (ASM), approved by the Kimberley Process Plenary in 2012, which will provide logistics, organizational and communications support to the KP on an ongoing basis.

AWDC is assigned to coordinate between the four ASM members (AWDC, the Israeli IDI, the Indian GJECP and the Ghana Government Diamond House) as the ASM focal point and is also in charge of managing and optimizing KP knowledge and institutional memory.

The improved KP website gathers and streamlines KP relevant news, contact data, official documents and includes an updated events calendar. Most importantly, the platform provides both participants and external parties with more extended tools to manage or look up all relevant information.

On the tenth anniversary of the KP and under the Chairmanship of South Africa, the further development of the ASM is an important step in reinforcing the leading role of the KP within the global diamond industry. The recently released 2012 KP statistics indicate that Antwerp continues to be the world's most important diamond trading hub, with total rough imports amounting to 76.5 million carat and 104.4 million carats of exported rough diamonds.