World Diamond Mark Foundation Signs Deal With Turkish Body
October 22, 14
(IDEX Online News) – The World Diamond Mark Foundation (WDMF), and the Turkish Jewellery Exporters Association (JTR) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during a joint press conference announcing the stepping up of cooperation.
The MoU was signed in the presence of other Turkish partners, including Borsa Istanbul and HRD Antwerp Turkey. The partners also introduced a new, jointly produced international diamond and jewelry trade magazine, called the World Diamond Magazine which aims to advance the WDMF's objectives.
The cooperation with JTR comes in the wake of a recent agreement with Borsa İstanbul to implement the programs of the World Diamond Mark in Turkey.
"In practical terms, this means that the WDM's first pilot program for accredited retail members, Authorized Diamond Dealers (ADDs), will begin in Turkey, one of the most exciting, and rapidly growing luxury product consumer markets," said WDMF Chairman Alex Popov.
"The cooperation with the Turkish Jewellery Exporters Association and its mother organization, the Turkish Exporters Union (MIB), are a direct outcome of that endeavor, and it is only because of their support, infrastructure and inspiring enthusiasm that we are going to make it all happen in Turkey.
JTR Chairman Ayhan Güner commented: "The cooperation between WDMF, JTR and MIB is like fitting our hand into a perfect glove. Turkey, in recent years, has taken giant steps in the jewelry sector and its exports have risen rapidly, throughout the world. Our own, domestic market is also expanding rapidly, much helped by an influx of tourists who also buy jewelry.
"At the same time, we feel that there is a lot of room to not only improve our marketing, but also broaden our educational, branding and promotional efforts. For instance, the cooperation with HRD Antwerp is a good example of efforts we are making to improve the quality of diamond and diamond jewelry retailing and we are happy the HRD Antwerp has signed a MoU with WDM and will form the backbone of both the diamond grading activities and educational efforts in Turkey. And with the WDM programs, in particular the WDM's Authorized Diamond Dealers programs for retail jewelers, we will be making headway in the generic promotion of diamonds and diamond jewelry. This will be good both for the domestic and exports markets of our products," he added.
Meanwhile, Çetin Ali Donmez, Vice President of Borsa Istanbul, noted that last June, during the 36th World Diamond Congress in Antwerp, Borsa Istanbul and the WDMF signed a memorandum of understanding to advance the implementation of the World Diamond Mark's programs in Turkey. "Borsa Istanbul aims to be an active representative of the World Diamond Mark in Turkey, and to help improve and increase diamond trading, a significant component of Turkey's jewelry industry, and to protect and educate retail jewelers and consumers," Çetin said.