The World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA) have announced the holding of their biennial Presidents Meeting in Mumbai from February 5 to 8, 2017. The meeting organized in association with the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) of India, which is co-hosting the Finance Seminar, also kicks off WFDB’s year of celebrations marking its 70th anniversary.
The highlight of the biennial Presidents Meeting is a major Diamond Financing Seminar and Roundtable, which is co-hosted and supported by the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) of India, and promises to be the most comprehensive on this important subject ever held, with a broad range of industry stakeholders , as well as banking and finance experts from across the world taking part.
Commenting on the holding of this timely seminar, Ernie Blom, President of WFDB said, “We stress that this is not just another meeting to discuss these issues which are so vital to the future of our trade.With banks facing higher capital requirements, risk aversion and increased regulatory burden, the financing they make available to diamantaires has fallen significantly in recent years. The reduced liquidity available to diamond companies has led to significantly reduced operational flexibility and increased vulnerability to market movements.”
Continuing further, the president said, “The seminar will look at the specific reasons for the lack of financing available and why current solutions have not been fully successful. We will be reaching out to additional financing institutions, exploring alternative financing techniques and investigating how these could bring extra liquidity to the diamond trade which is so badly needed. We want to establish a regular dialogue between banks, and other liquidity providers to develop liquidity solutions for the diamond industry, and create a financing task force to drive forward solutions. We aim to create online education courses accessible to all members of WFDB affiliated diamond exchanges and roundtable discussions to be held in all the leading diamond centers.”
Stressing on the importance of holding this seminar, Mr Ernie Blom continued, “We want to address the issue of financing in an unprecedented way, and believe it is critical that members of all trade bodies attend. We regard this seminar as so important that we have decided to start with WFDB committee meetings on Sunday, February 5, with the financing seminar running across the 5th and 6th and continue our meetings through February 7th and 8th.”
The President of WFDB also thanked the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) of India for co-hosting and organizational support given to the Finance Seminar. The WFDB’s statement also said that Registration for the Finance Seminar will be available soon, via a specially created web site, and the WFDB will announce it as soon as it goes online.
