(IDEX Online News) – A high-level delegation from the Antwerp World Diamond Council (AWDC) has held meetings with senior officials in Zimbabwe in a bid to ensure that diamonds from the Marange region are sold via Antwerp.

 

AWDC CEO Ari Epstein and AWDC President Stephane Fischler held meetings with Mines and Mining Development Minister Walter Chidhakwa, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa, Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha and officials from the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) and the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe in Harare.

 

The AWDC aims to create strong links with Zimbabwe, telling hosts that its more than 2,000 Antwerp diamond companies can provide a solid base for the sale of its diamonds and that it would ensure a rise in the price of the country’s diamonds.

 

Epstein said that the lifting of EU sanctions against ZMDC would boost the value of the country’s diamonds since the sanctions had the effect of undervaluing Zimbabwe’s diamonds and depriving the country of revenue.

 

“We are truly convinced that the Zimbabwean diamonds are today sold significantly below their market value. Backed by more than 550 years of expertise and a critical mass of buyers and sellers, we can guarantee an optimal and transparent pricing mechanism,” Epstein said, according to media reports from the country.

 

Minister Chidhakwa praised the AWDC for supporting the fight against sanctions on ZMDC. “We want to ensure that beyond meeting the KPCS requirement, to secure the sector, to ensure that the process by which our diamonds are mined, marketed and logistically moved to other countries has the same level of transparency as those marketed elsewhere in the world,” he said.