The Antwerp World Diamond Center (AWDC) has lined up a conference, namely "Producers in Transition: The Changing Industry Dynamic," between October 15-16, which will address the recent growth of diamond-producing countries and their impact on the industry.

"The changes we are seeing now are transforming the global diamond industry more significantly than we have seen for many years. Not only are we witnessing changes in production and distribution, there will also be impacts on diamond trading and marketing around the world," mentioned AWDC CEO Freddy Hanard.

The conference would be attended by the elite of the industry including senior government representatives from South Africa, Angola, Botswana and Liberia, Nobel Prize laureate and the economist Joseph Stiglitz, singer and global development campaigner Bob Geldof and representatives of leading mining companies. Chaim Even-Zohar will be present as the moderator.