AWDC Announces Symposium Speakers

Titled “The Diamond Industry in the New Economy,” one of the major focuses of the symposium will be finance, where experts will discuss the change in outlook at the banking institutions serving the industry.

The finance session will include Victor van der Kwast, corporate executive vice president and CEO of ABN AMRO’s international diamond and jewelry business; Pierre de Bosscher, chief executive officer of the Antwerp Diamond Bank; and Kishore Lall, Managing Director of Standard Chartered Bank.

Des Kilalea, an industry analyst who works for the Royal Bank of Canada, will provide his view on the diamond supply in his address ‘Diamonds – Where will all the rough come from?”

Another speaker will be Thomas Leysen, chairman of Umicore NV, a Belgian-based multinational materials technology company, and chairman of FEB-VBO (Federation of Belgian Enterprises). Umicore is a stakeholder in Element 6, a partnership with De Beers that creates lab-made diamonds.

Representatives of the four largest mining companies – De Beers, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Alrosa - will discuss their position in a rough diamond trade panel.

Industry analyst Chaim Even-Zohar will moderate the symposium.

“The global economy has undergone far-reaching changes that have reached into every industry,” said Freddy J. Hanard, CEO of the AWDC. “We want to know exactly how these changes are affecting the diamond business. We need to look forward to see how we need to adapt as a trade in order to stay relevant to the needs and requirements of consumers. With some of the finest minds in the diamond industry taking part in this symposium, we are confident that we will be able to help chart a course through still dangerous waters.”

The 2009 Antwerp Diamond Symposium will be held in the Province which is the seat of the government of the Province of Antwerp.