The Sixth International Diamond Week organised by the Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) at its redesigned Trading Hall was inaugurated yesterday by Alrosa President Andrei Zharkov, who stressed the need for continued generic diamond promotions given the demand gaps between diamonds and other luxury goods. He also said that the mining company looked forward to fruitful cooperation with Israel, which was, he said, among the three top markets for Alrosa. Also gracing the occasion were Israel’s Tourism Minister Yariv Levin , IDE President Yoram Dvash , Israel Diamond Manufacturers Association President Kobi Korn, IDI Chairman Shmuel Schnitzer, DDCNY President Reuven Kaufman, CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri and senior members of the Israeli and foreign diamond trade. The week is being attended by buyers from 30 countries, including the US, China, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Turkey, Belgium. Speaking at the event, Dvash said, "We can't change the past and can't forecast the future. The present is the time to create reality, and that is exactly what we are doing every day and today as well." Later, while speaking to members of the Israel diamond industry, Zharkov talked about the international re-branding exercise which Alrosa had undertaken so that its local office is now Alrosa Israel, not Arcos. Elaborating on key issues of the trade, Zharkov said that demand in 2017 would be stable, and the Company didn't see any reason to increase or decrease the prices of rough. He added that in the coming year, Alrosa plans to sell approximately 39 million carats of diamonds. He also said that there had been some softening of polished prices due partly to the demonetization policy of the government of India and said he expected that in the long run, further reforms will increase transparency in India.