The Hindu Business Line : Dubai to host World Diamond Council meet

The third annual meeting of the World Diamond Council will be held in Dubai in late March. It will be hosted by the Dubai Metals and Commodities Centre (DMCC).

About 60 delegates, including Mr Eli Izhakoff, Chairman and CEO of the World Diamond Council (WDC), Mr Nicky Oppenheimer, Chairman of DeBeers Group of Companies, as well as high-ranking Government officials and representatives from various countries are expected to participate, according to a statement made available to Business Line.

Mr Tawfique Abdullah, CEO of DMCC said: "DMCC views this as an opportunity to showcase Dubai to the diamond industry and to these highly influential, global market participants. The WDC meeting is an important event for the diamond industry. "This gathering is the most important meeting of its kind to ever take place in West Asia. In our role as industry facilitator and regulator, we are proud to host this event in Dubai."

The WDC has stated its support for DMCC's efforts to develop the diamond industry in the region. Dubai, as the future international hub of note for the manufacture and trade of rough and polished diamonds, will be on the agenda of discussions at the meetings.

The DMCC was created in 2002 as part of a strategic goal by the Dubai Government to establish a commodity market. It provides the market infrastructure that brings together a wide range of commodities activities, and is committed to serving the needs of participants in the gold, diamonds and commodities markets.

Resident companies of DMCC are offered highly attractive benefits under a free zone status, including a 50-year guaranteed tax holiday, 100 per cent business ownership, full ownership of business premises, and a secure regulated environment. The WDC was created three years ago amid growing concern over human rights violations and atrocities committed against innocent victims in diamond producing countries of war-torn northern Africa.

During a meeting between the World Federation of Diamond Bourses and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association in Antwerp in July 2000, a resolution was passed creating the WDC. Their responsibility is to oversee the export and import of rough diamonds to prevent their exploitation for illicit purposes such as war and inhumane acts.