The Executive Committee of the WFDB held a successful meeting in London on November 1, 2022, hosted by the London Diamond Bourse. WFDB President Yoram Dvash opened the meeting with an update on the market situation. The meeting continued with the ongoing business of the Federation presented by various members, notably Treasurer-General Mehul Shah and Deputy-Treasurer-General Alan Cohen.
An update on the significant progress of Get-Diamonds was presented by WFDB Vice-President Moshe Salem and the platform’s Executive Director Eyal Shirazy. In addition, the meeting heard updates on current issues affecting the diamond industry, including the Russian diamond supply and synthetic diamonds.
A discussion was held with Legal Counsel Shmuel Iny about legal issues that have come up on various diamond bourses in the past several months.
Boaz Moldawsky, President of the Israel Diamond Exchange, and host of the Israel Diamond Week which will include the World Diamond Congress on March 28 – 30, 2023, gave an update on preparations for the events.
A special guest at the meeting was David Kellie, CEO of the Natural Diamond Council, who presented the budgetary challenge the council is facing since Alrosa suspended membership and stopped its funding, and the crucial importance of generic marketing in increasing demand. Kellie also presented possible ways to make up the shortfall.
It was agreed that there would soon be a follow-up conversation between the WFDB President and David Kellie on how to promote the relationship between the two bodies and how to enhance the marketing of natural diamonds.
In addition, it was agreed that Rami Baron, WFDB Vice President Moshe Salem and London Diamond Bourse Vice President David Troostwyk would hold meetings with the Young Diamantaires in order to work together to create initiatives for the benefit of the diamond industry. The following day EXCO members who chose to remain in London were given a private tour of De Beers headquarters, where they were hosted by Nick Byers, Head of Administration and Board Director at De Beers UK and met with Purvi Shah, Head of Ethical and Sustainable Value Chains.
