(IDEX Online News) – The 2015 Presidents' Meeting of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) and International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA) officially opened today (Monday) in Tel Aviv, with key players meeting to discuss issues pertinent to the midstream of the industry such as lack of financing, low consumer demand, lab-grown diamonds and high rough prices, among other subjects on the agenda.

 

Speaking at the opening session, WFDB president Ernie Blom mentioned the difficulties currently facing the industry. "Conditions in the diamond industry are far from easy and they have been that way for quite a number of months," he said. "These are complicated times for the diamond industry across the world.”

 

He called on members of the industry to re-think their business strategies and to consider whether they should be paying such high prices for rough goods. He also asked for the banking community and producers to provide more assistance to diamond business members by providing credit lines and reducing the "unrealistically high price of rough stones" since doing business profitably has become almost impossible.”

 

While asking the banks to understand that adjusting to the new requirements would take time, he revealed that the WFDB has been working on a global template with ABN

Amro that the banks and industry can use in order to fully understand each other's financial needs and requirements.

 

Also speaking at the opening, Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) president Shmuel Schnitzer mentioned a number of issues facing the industry, including profitability. “This is a difficult, painful problem that runs like a thread through all the diamond centers in the world, he said. “We have to sound the alert. We must find a solution to the industry's problem of profitability. Things can't go on this way for long.”

 

Other speakers at the opening session included Maxim Shkadov, the president of IDMA; Jacob Korn, the president of the Israel Diamond Manufacturers Association (IsDMA), Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri, president of CIBJO; Vipul Shah, chairman of the Gem & Jewelry Export Promotion Council and Onkokame Kitso Mokaila, the minister of minerals, energy and water resources of the Republic of Botswana.

 

Industry analysts Chaim Even-Zohar and Pranay Narverkar spoke on the subject of the "Squeezed Middle," while Frank Müller of The Bridge to Luxury spoke about the necessity of greater marketing in the diamond industry.

 

Prior to the opening session, the WFDB Trade Promotion Committee meeting heard a report of the progress made by the World Diamond Mark Foundation (WDMF) by WDMF Chairman Alex Popov. In addition, WDMF program director Krisztina Kalman-Schueler gave a presentation of future projects that include consumer oriented diamond fashion shows and exhibitions in larger markets, such as the United States.

 

The meeting was followed by the third edition of the WDM Think Tank Meeting. Moderated by Popov, the forum conducted a dialogue about the conditions and terms needed to unify the majority of the players in the industry supply pipeline toward an agreed and well-supported diamond promotion program, possibly with the WDMF as the catalyst.

 

The WFDB Judicial and Trade and Promotion Committees met, with members at the Promotion Committees hearing about the social media campaigns that the committee has launched to bring widespread attention to the work of the WFDB via Facebook and Twitter.

 

In discussions by IDMA members, Shkadov said he would reiterate his organization's arguments for the difficulties the industry is facing. “I will address rough diamond prices and pricing methods; the industry's financing structure; the ensuing lack of profit in our sector; the crisis in industry financing; and the need for well-coordinated generic diamond promotion efforts in the consumer market.”

 

IDMA secretary general Ronnie VanderLinden spoke about the dwindling number of IDMA members. “We are about to lose Namibia and the jury is still out on Canada. In Sri Lanka, diamonds factories have been closing and it is putting the Sri Lanka Diamond Manufacturers sustenance in jeopardy. All this is a direct outcome of the precarious state of our industry. This is not only worrying, it is potential disastrous."

 

The biennial Presidents’ Meeting runs until June 16.