Presidents’ Meeting Ends with Hope for the Future – but Serious Challenges Remain
June 17, 15
(IDEX Online News) – The 2015 Presidents’ Meeting closed on Tuesday after three days of intensive discussions regarding the present state of the diamond industry, and how to attempt to create a more productive future across the diamond pipeline.
World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) president Ernie Blom said the talks had been open and honest.
"We held highly intensive discussions which allowed us to discuss issues in depth. As we all concurred, the main themes are the lack of profitability, banking and finance, synthetics and over-grading. I feel that we have achieved a great deal in precisely identifying the challenges that face us, and what we need to do to overcome them. We have put processes in motion and a number of committees will look at them in great depth and report back with proposals for how to deal with them."
International Diamond Manufacturers’ Association (IDMA) secretary general, Ronnie Vanderlinden, said the talks had been heated at times, but remained agreeable. He also admitted that as IDMA president, Maxim Shkadov had said, there are no simple solutions.
He also concurred with De Beers CEO Phillippe Mellier that the industry is dealing with different perceptions and visions, and that ultimately each business within the pipeline must make decisions that are correct (and profitable) for them. He also stressed that one of the industry’s top priorities must be to drive consumer confidence and demand.
Israel Diamond Exchange president Shmuel Schnitzer said that the discussions had gone “quite well,” although he outlined a few main areas of concern.
“We touched on the very serious issues confronting the industry. The most crucial part is lack of profitability. No business can last in such circumstances. We mentioned this to the diamond producers to see what they and we can do to improve the situation. We cannot go on ignoring this lack of profitability.
During the final day of the meeting, a delegation held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. Blom said that Netanyahu was very supportive of both the Israeli and global diamond industry, and wanted to cement Israel’s strong position in the world diamond market.