IDMA's President's Meeting ends on successful note

The International Diamond Manufacturers’ Association’s 2011 President’s Meeting which concluded recently discussed some important issues of concern to the global diamond industry. In a first for the diamond industry, this important meeting of the heads of the manufacturers’ associations was held in Botswana, the world’s largest diamond producing country.

Also, the ‘Diamond Beneficiation Pitso’, which preceded the meeting, was successful in its purpose of putting forward different perspectives from high ranking government officials, diamond miners and manufacturers, as well as industry analysts and academics, on ‘how to build sustainable beneficiation of diamonds in Botswana’.

IDMA president Moti Ganz highlighted that Botswana’s potential to become an important destination of choice for industry players, from mine to market, was the core reason to select Gaborone as venue for the event. “The Pitso offered our organization's members a first opportunity for an exchange of views and I believe this event has been a true eye opener for many of our peers," Ganz noted. A common point put forth by most speakers at the Pitso was that Botswana’s 16 diamond factories owe their development to rough diamond availability rather than to international competitiveness.

Botswana's Acting Vice President, Dr. P.H.K. Kedikilwe said, "The issues raised at the Pitso were very interesting and many of them touched on the very core of our aspirations for the development of a diamond center in Botswana.”

He added that considering Botswana’s contribution in the industry, “Our desire is for our actions always to have a positive impact on the diamond market because there is no other country that I know of that is as dependent on the health of the diamond industry as Botswana.” He further reiterated that this aim requires “to address many of the challenges such as the cost of doing business in Botswana, skills, funding of the industry and so on. We are continuing to look at a number of initiatives”.

At the President’s Meeting, IDMA also discussed a letter from GIA who decided to discontinue services to those traders who had sent treated diamonds for grading without proper disclosure in the past. IDMA decided that such refusal letters from GIA would be forwarded to the IDMA member associations, each one of which would take steps in line with its policies and regulations. Also, a discussion was held on the need for the manufacturers to develop guidelines for companies that deal in both natural and synthetic / treated diamonds to ensure that the two businesses are separate and distinct entities. This would be addressed at future presidents' meetings.