AWDC Board of Directors Elected Six Mandates Assigned to Indians

Antwerp, June 18, 2008 Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) announced the results of the elections of its Board of Directors, held today.

Largest Diamond Companies • Ashit Mehta (Arjav Diamonds NV) • Kaushik Mehta (Eurostar Diamond Traders NV)

Middle Range Category • Mehul Kothari (Sushang Exports NV) • Bharat Shah (Diampex NV)

Other Category • Mihir Mehta (Interjewel Europe NV) • Sunil Kumar Shah (Pink Star BVBA)

With six directors, the Indian community is once again well represented in the Belgian diamond sector.

A further six members of the 12-person Board are directly appointed by their respective representative organizations. The diamond bourses have presented Jacky Roth (President of the AWDC Board of Directors), Freddy Inzlicht and Philippe Barsamian as their three representatives. Employers and employees of the diamond manufacturing industry will announce their candidates very shortly. The final mandate will be assigned to an independent director.

For the second time since the restructuring of the former HRD (Diamond High Council) in May 2006, Antwerp diamond dealers went to the polls to elect directly their representatives to the AWDC Board of Directors. Although voting was not mandatory, no less than 750 out of 1800 diamond dealing companies cast their votes, compared to 678 in 2006.

“The high number of candidates, the debates and the impressive attendance at the polls clearly demonstrate the commitment of the entire diamond community. The Indian community has confirmed its engagement to continue to defend the interests of the Antwerp diamond sector, together with all the industry stakeholders', states Philip Claes, spokesman of AWDC.

The new Board of Directors will be validated formally in the course of next week.