Dr M'zée Fula Ngenge: Demand for considerable-sized diamonds stronger than ever

The African Diamond Council (ADC) chairperson Dr M'zée Fula Ngenge told Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa in an exclusive interview that although overall global diamond prices have been somewhat soft, the demand for considerable-sized diamonds...

02 september 2024

Amplats sees prospects as a standalone company

Anglo has revealed its plans to demerge Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), which has operations in South Africa and Zimbabwe, to optimise shareholder value. Rough&Polished contacted Amplats to comment on this and other issues but was referred...

19 august 2024

WFDB President Yoram Dvash Remains Confident Despite Global Diamond Challenges

Yoram Dvash is President of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) having been elected in 2020. He found time in his busy schedule to speak to Rough&Polished about the state of the diamond industry around the world and some of the major...

12 august 2024

Lyudmila Vysotskaya: Amber is a mystical stone, a living substance

Lyudmila Vysotskaya is a Kaliningrad-based amber artist and designer, expert, chairwoman of the Amber Academy and member of the Creative Union of Artists in Decorative and Applied Arts. This summer, visitors could admire the art works by Lyudmila Vysotskaya...

30 july 2024

De Beers shines light on budding jewellery designers

Diamond giant De Beers will this year conduct its bi-annual Shining Light Awards jewellery design competition. De Beers beneficiation manager Kagiso Fredericks told Rough & Polished's Mathew Nyaungwa in an exclusive interview they set aside 4.5 carats...

22 july 2024

Sri Lanka's President aims for $2bn annual export revenue from gems and jewellery industry

17 august 2023

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe urged officials in the gem and jewellery industry to swiftly provide comprehensive plans for achieving the country’s objective of bolstering annual export earnings through enhancements in the gems and jewellery exports and re-exports.

He stressed that progress toward this year’s target growth in the industry has not met the expectations compared to the previous year. Hence, he emphasized the necessity of implementing a well-structured strategy aimed at attaining an annual export revenue of at least two billion US dollars.

Furthermore, the President revealed that recommendations pertaining to tax policies for the advancement of the gems and jewellery sector were submitted to him by the Sectoral Monitoring Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Sustainable Development.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe assured that the government is fully prepared to provide necessary support and facilities if a formalized plan to elevate the gems and jewellery industry in Sri Lanka is presented promptly.

Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished