The 38th World Diamond Congress, the biennial General Body meeting of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA) got underway today with a formal inauguration function held at the Congress venue within the Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) in Mumbai.

WFDB President Ernie Blom has been saying that with all the various challenges before industry, it is one of the more important Congresses to be held.  

That thought ran like a thread at the inaugural today, as leader after leader of the global diamond industry touched upon the scenario confronting the diamond industry presently, in their speeches. What was also evident was the energy, dynamism and commitment that the industry evinced in confronting those challenges.

In his welcome address Anoop Mehta, President of the BDB briefly enumerated some of the issues before the industry including lack of availability of finance. He also strongly put forth the necessity of tackling challenges in a united manner. “We must put aside internal differences, if any, and all come together to face the situation that is before us,” he exhorted. “We have to distribute the work to different organisations, and make sure it gets done.”

Ernie Blom, President WFDB dwelt on the inherent and the sentimental value that diamonds hold and also spoke about the practical good that diamonds do for communities in diamond producing and manufacturing centres. “We must ensure that the consumer knows this,” he stressed.

Blom too, referred to some of the more important issues including: the new FTC guidelines; De Beers introduction of its lab grown diamond jewellery brand Lightbox; falling profitability and the uphill task of finding finance for the diamond business. He said that according to one study, diamond financing had shrunk from US$ 16 billion in earlier years to US$ 13 billion last year.

“But we must continue to interact with banks and financial institutions,” he said. “Banks want greater transparency, more capital infusion by companies and less dealings on memo.”

While noting that these requirements were only right, he averred: “We are all working towards transforming trading patterns.” Blom went on to talk about WFDB’s interactions with FATF and OECD.

“When we all work together, we are able to maintain consumer confidence and that is crucial for the industry,” Blom stressed.

IDMA President Ronnie VanderLinden raised a number of questions which he thought were crucial to the discussion and the long term survival of the industry. 

He said that rather than looking at the situation from top down, we need to look at it from the consumer up. He called for a greater regard for what the consumer is thinking.  

“Why are we not doing enough to bring consumers to the retailers’ doors?” was one of the questions VanderLinden raised. And while noting the good work being done by the Diamond Producers Association (DPA) for generic marketing, he stressed that all segments of the pipeline must do something towards increasing demand. He said that in the US, 16 jewellery bodies had recently come together under one umbrella organisation to take up diamond promotions programmes. 

Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri, President of CIBJO, went one step further in the call for unity made by earlier speakers. “We have no choice but to stand together as one industry,” he emphasised, including other segments of the gems and jewellery business in his reference. “We are like different facets, which are all part of one stone.”

Cavalieri remarked that lab grown diamonds are a legitimate business segment and opined that “we must engage with them”.

World Diamond Council President Stephane Fischler took up the thought he had put forward at the WDC meeting yesterday. “This industry has one treasure and that is its common reputation,” he stated. He went on to talk about the need to conduct business in a manner that this reputation was not harmed or dented.

“Ethics have no boundaries,” Fischler stressed. He explained that the diamond industry’s ethics should encompass everyone – from the miners working in pits to the cutters in the manufacturing centres.

He lauded the transformation of the Indian gems and jewellery industry. “This was not just a natural transformation,” he said. “It was achieved due to the work of some visionaries in the industry who understood what was needed to be done and went ahead to achieve it.”

The Chairman of The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, Pramod Kumar Agrawal began by citing the example of BDB and GJEPC which two bodies, he said, always “work together to tackle challenges”.

He too, brought up the matter of the FTC guidelines. “We are not against the legitimate lab grown diamonds business,” he underlined. “But the two streams must be clearly defined and differentiated. There must be different codes.” Otherwise, he cautioned there would be the problem of mixing.

He said that in order to reassure banks and financial institutions, the GJEPC had introduced the MyKYCBank and that it could be used by the international industry to verify information of companies they were doing business with.

“The next year India will take up the KP Chair,” he said. “We are also committed to ensure that everyone in the diamond industry gets their due, including the artisanal and alluvial miners.”

At the inaugural, Vasant Mehta, former Chairman GJEPC and former Vice President of IDMA was felicitated for his contribution to the industry. Mehta got a standing ovation from his peers as he walked up receive his plaque.

The Vote of Thanks for the inaugural function was proposed by Mehul Shah, Vice President of the BDB, and Treasurer General of the WFDB.

As is customary, on the day prior to the formal inauguration of the Congress, various committees of the WFDB hold their business meetings. In continuance of this, yesterday, October 22nd, the Judicial, Trade & Business, Promotion, and Executive Committees held their individual meetings, during which updates were presented and future plans discussed.

"There have been so many developments in the diamond business since we last met at the 2017 Presidents Meeting that it was vital for us to have the opportunity to hear the views and opinions of our members from across the world," said Blom.

He concluded: "We have been confronted with so many new issues this year that this has become one of the most important Congresses for our organisation. Our committees certainly held very detailed meetings… particularly in the areas of synthetics, financing, the impact of De Beers' Lightbox jewellery, changes in the functions of tradeshows, social media marketing, our Young Diamantaires group and the results of a special survey of our bourses which raised many important questions about how we operate and we are looking forward to two more days of in-depth discussions.”

Pic Cap: WFDB President Ernie Blom speaking at the inauguration of the 38th World Diamond Congress