Fiera di Vicenza, the leading Italian jewelry trade fair organizer, and the Panama Diamond Exchange, have agreed to collaborate to organise events that will promote the trade in gemstones and jewelry in Latin America. A Memorandum of Understanding detailing the two organization's future cooperation was signed on December 5, 2014, on the trading floor of PDE’s soon-to-be-inaugurated headquarters, by PDE Founding Chairman Eli Izhakoff and Fiera di Vicenza President Matteo Marzotto.
According to the MOU, PDE and Fiera di Vicenza will formulate a strategic plan and conduct a feasibility study for projects that include trade fairs, symposiums and industry forums, which will take place in Panama and promote the diamond, gemstone and jewelry business in a region that includes Mexico, Central America, South America and the islands of the Caribbean. The joint program will begin in 2015.
The signing ceremony was the first official event to be held in the Phase I building of the Panama Diamond Exchange, which will open for business at the end of the month. Mr. Marzotto was accompanied by Corrado Facco, Managing Director of Fiera di Vicenza, and leading representatives of the Italian jewelry sector, including Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri, President of CIBJO, the World Jewelry Confederation, and Roberto Coin, one of the world’s most prominent brandname jewelry designers and manufacturers. Both Dr. Cavalieri and Mr. Coin are PDE directors.They were joined at the podium by Dr. Luciano Pataro, a PDE director from Panama and Erez Akerman, PDE President. Mr. Izhakoff said, “The involvement in PDE’s mission of Fiera di Vicenza, which represents Italian luxury at its finest, emphasizes that we are not just building offices, but rather an industry. Our goal, through the development of the Latin American gemstone and jewelry trade, is to grow the pie for everyone.” Mr. Marzotto added, “We are keen to be part of that future. While we always will be rooted in Italy, Fiera di Vicenza is going international, working with key regional partners, like PDE, to grow and enrich the jewelry business around the world. We, too, are not just selling physical space at trade shows, but rather providing the business with relevant and quality content, so that the buyer and the exhibitor’s experiences are enriched, focused and made more efficient and value adding.
Prior to the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, the PDE leadership and the Italian visitors were hosted by Panama's Minister of the Presidency, Álvaro Alemán, at the Presidential Palace in Panama City’s government quarter. Representatives of Panama’s business community and diplomatic corps, including the Italian ambassador in Panama, Mr. Izhakoff awarded honorary PDE membership to both Mr. Marzotto and Mr. Facco, and presented both of them with personalized official entry tags into the new Panama Gem & Jewelry Center, where the headquarters and trading floor of Latin America’s only recognized diamond exchange are headquartered.