Putin and Modi To Speak at Delhi Diamond Conference

(IDEX Online) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Nahendra Modi will be the keynote speakers at the inaugural World Diamond Conference in India later this month.

Leading officials of diamond and jewelry companies and organizations will be taking part in the Delhi conference on December 11 and 12 to discuss the future consumer market for polished diamonds and diamond jewelry, and to debate the tools and measures needed to create demand among younger consumers in particular for diamonds.

The first day of the conference, organized by the Gem & Jewelry Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), and the World Diamond Mark Foundation (WDMF), will hear about various aspects of marketing diamonds and diamond jewelry. The speakers include De Beers CEO Philippe Mellier, Alrosa President Ilya Raschin and vice president Andrey Polyakov, Rio Tinto Diamonds CEO Jean Marc Lieberherr, and Endiama CEO Antonio Carlos Sumbula.

There will be a panel of leading retail jewelers, including Kent Wong, CEO of Chow Tai Fook, Darshan Mehta, of Reliance Brands, Oded Edelman, Founder and CEO of online retailer James Allen, and Karim Merchant of Pure Gold, Dubai.

Alex Popov, Chairman and CEO of the WDMF, will outline the marketing and promotion perspectives of the industry in the changing luxury market, and a public discussion will follow.

The second day will feature panels that will discuss the diamond industry's current issues. World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) President Ernie Blom, International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA) President Maxim Shkadov, CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri, and World Diamond Council (WDC) President Edward Asscher, together with leaders of the Bharat Diamond Bourse and the GJEPC will discuss issues of financing, CSR and other matters with bankers, including Erik Jens of ABN AMRO, Arundhati Bhattacharya of the State Bank of India and others.