Mining Ministers to Address WDC Meeting

(IDEX Online News) – The mining ministers of South Africa and Zimbabwe have confirmed their attendance as guests of honor of the World Diamond Council Ninth Annual Meeting in Tel Aviv.

Susan Shabangu, Minister of Mineral Resources of the Republic of South Africa, and Dr. Obert Mpofu, Minister of Mining and Mining Development of the Republic of Zimbabwe, will address the WDC plenary session on May 6.

"The WDC had a significant role in ensuring that the statutes and resolutions adopted in Kimberley Process plenaries did not wither on paper, but rather were effectively communicated and implemented by industry," Minister Shabangu declared last year, at the WDC Annual Meeting in Vicenza.

WDC President Eli Izhakoff said, "The presence of senior government representatives from the African rough producing countries is of critical importance. Progress in the Kimberley Process has never come about through confrontation, but rather through engagement and discussion among the producers, the manufacturers and the consuming countries. It is this type of engagement that we seek to facilitate." 

Minister Shabangu and Minister Mpofu join a growing list of government representatives who will attend the WDC Annual Meeting. Among the others who will be attending the meeting are Jose W. Fernandez, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State; Ambassador Welile Nhlapo, Chair of the Kimberley Process; and Tung-Lai Margue, Head of the Service for Foreign Policy Instruments of the European Commission.