Varda Shine inducted into Israel Diamond Institute League of Honor

Humbly accepting her hour of being inducted into the Israel Diamond Institute League of Honor at the Hong Kong Jewellery Fair, Varda Shine, CEO of DTC, shared that she is merely a ‘representative of an entire industry which should pride itself on the amazing work it undertakes on social causes and making the world a better place through the power of diamonds’.

Contradicting the issues such as resource curses, conflict diamonds and negative associations, which attempt to portray diamonds to be responsible for many of the world’s problems, she referred to diamonds as ‘amazing tools of transformation’ ad stated that ‘we can stand proud and show that diamonds, as agents of change, have the power to make people’s lives better, their horizons broader and their futures brighter. She touched upon issues of people and economic development and education which the diamond industry has helped progress. ‘We have gone far further than many social enterprises by establishing entire new industries in diamond producing countries. We have generated opportunities for employment, up-skilling and long term economic development through embedding new parts of the value chain in-country. We have sought out truly sustainable solutions to development issues in diamond producing countries.” She also shared that the shift of DTC operations to Botswana heralds the start of a hugely exciting new chapter for diamond beneficiation ad for Botswana’s citizens, her economy.

Ms. Shie commended the industry’s efforts for funding education projects in areas such as Asia and southern Africa, which uses the ‘rewards of our brilliant product to unlock the vast potential of the latent brilliance that resides in diamond nations’ and the work of the Diamond Empowerment Fund.” She added.

She also urged the industry to ‘find brave and thorough solutions to short term social problems, yet balance this with a focus on the longer term and on ensuring those in need enjoy a prosperous and sustainable future’.

“Long term commitment to social responsibility requires long term business planning and, with the well-documented supply and demand fundamentals in the years ahead for diamonds, those businesses that do plan for the long term will be set up much more strongly for sustained success and will therefore be able to continue their social support. Those focused only on short term strategies are far more likely to see both their social investments and diamond trade opportunities diminish before long.”

“Let’s keep moving forward together to make the world a better place through the power of diamonds,” Ms. Shine cocluded.