An impressive roster of national and international industry leaders of the diamond, jewellery and luxury product industry will be ascending to Delhi, India, on December 11-12 to discuss and deliberate the future consumer market make-up for polished diamonds and diamond jewellery, and to understand what tools and measures are needed to enthuse new generations of consumer for diamonds.
Gathering under the banner of the inaugural World Diamond Conference in India, organized by the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), and the World Diamond Mark Foundation (WDMF), and supported by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, conference participants will hear views both from the diamond industry representatives, as well as from the retail jewelers and the luxury product industry.
The conference will dedicate its first day solely to the various aspects of marketing diamonds and diamond jewellery. Among the miners who will be offering their perspectives will be Philippe Mellier, CEO of the De Beers; Ilya Raschin, president, and Andrey Polyakov, vice president of Alrosa; Jean Marc Lieberherr, CEO of Rio Tinto Diamonds; and Antonio Carlos Sumbula, CEO of Endiama.
The other group will be represented by a panel of eminent retail jewellers including Kent Wong, CEO of Chow Tai Fook; Darshan Mehta of Reliance Brands, Oded Edelman, Founder and CEO of online retailer James Allen, and Karim Merchant of Pure Gold, Dubai.
To summarize the encounter, Alex Popov, Chairman and CEO of WDMF will outline the marketing and promotion perspectives of the industry in the ever-changing luxury market. A public discussion will follow.
The second day will feature panels that will discuss the diamond industry's current issues and affairs. Presidents of World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB), Ernie Blom; International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA) - Maxim Shkadov; CIBJO - Gaetano Cavalieri; and World Diamond Council (WDC) - Edward Asscher, together with Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) and GJEPC will discuss issues of financing, CSR and other matters with bankers, like Erik Jens of ABN AMRO, Arundhati Bhattacharya of the State Bank of India and others.
The World Diamond Conference in India will be held in the Vigyan Bhawan conference centre. It will coincide with the State visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India and meetings with Indian Prime Minister Nahendra Modi.
Conference moderator: Keshini Navaratnam - world renowned anchor familiar from her work at BBC. Miners' Group moderator - Chaim Even Zohar
Registration, conference programme and participation terms and conditions - www.wdci.diamonds.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Indian Bureau, Rough&Polished
