International Diamond Board Formed by St. Petersburg Forum

The formation of the International Diamond Board by the participants of the St. Petersburg forum was announced by Rio Tinto, one of the forum members. The Board formation was announced Thursday after eight months of deliberations by the industry working group.

“Participants in the working group have had a broad charter to examine the potential role of an industry organization and to determine how best it could be structured going forward,” the announcement said.

“The International Diamond Board will be incorporated in the UK as a company limited by guarantee (CLG). The overarching mission of the International Diamond Board is to create and sustain strong consumer demand for diamonds worldwide through effective category marketing. Its role will include implementing communication and public relations activities aimed at sustaining consumer confidence.

“A critical success factor for the new organization will be to secure support from all parts of the diamond value chain,” it added. The number of participants in the work group, an initiative of former Alrosa President Sergey Vybornov, was very small and purposely did not include any existing diamond industry organization.

Since the initial meeting, the group commissioned a number of studies, seeking advice on the direction it should take.

“Over the next twelve months, the International Diamond Board will focus on building the organization and initiating its first category public relations and communication program. The recruitment of a high caliber CEO to lead the organization is currently underway,” the announcement concluded.

The search for a CEO started a few months ago, with a number of industry managers quietly expressing interest in the role.