The 2015 Presidents Meeting of World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) and International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA) formally began in Tel Aviv this morning with addresses by Shmuel Schnitzer, President of IDE which is hosting the meeting, Ernie Blom, WFDB President and others.

The meeting is being held at a critical juncture for the industry and both Blom and Schnitzer focused on a number of challenges that need to be overcome, including falling profitability and declining bank credit, synthetic stones, overgrading, and generic diamond marketing, among others.

"Conditions in the diamond industry are far from easy and they have been that way for quite a number of months," Blom said. He called on members of the diamond industry to re-think their business strategies and to consider whether they should be paying such high prices for rough goods. He also asked for the banking community and producers to provide more assistance to diamond business members by providing credit lines and reducing the "unrealistically high price of rough stones".

Blom also disclosed that the WFDB has been working on a global template with ABN Amro that the banks and industry can use in order to fully understand each other's financial needs and requirements. And it would help the diamond trade understand the concerns of the banking community, he added.

While concluding, Blom stressed that the global diamond business has been through many difficult periods in the past and had come through them successfully, and as a resilient industry it would successfully navigate the current problems.

Earlier, on Sunday, different sessions were held in preparation for the Meet. These included the World Diamond Mark Generic Marketing Think Tank where WDMF Chairman Alex Popov, offered an overview of the organization's successful promotional activities in a variety of niche markets, following which WDMF Program Director Krisztina Kalman-Schueler gave a presentation of future projects that include consumer oriented diamond fashion shows and exhibitions in larger markets, such as the United States.

In a separate statement, IDMA President Maxim Shkadov and Secretary General Ronnie VanderLinden emphasised the importance of the Meet. “IDMA's members are struggling for survival. Due to the ever changing conditions, the seesawing of the industry's -- and our members' -- performance, the future of global diamond manufacturing is in the balance," Shkadov stated, pointing out that “manufacturers carry the largest and most significant burden of the diamond pipeline”.

IDMA Secretary General Ronnie VanderLinden said the number of IDMA members is dwindling. "We are about to lose Namibia and the jury is still out on Canada. In Sri Lanka, diamonds factories have been closing and it is putting the Sri Lanka Diamond Manufacturers sustenance in jeopardy. All this is a direct outcome of the precarious state of our industry. This is not only worrying, it is potential disastrous," VanderLinden said.

The meeting will conclude on Tuesday, June 16.