Forum to see leading industry players and stakeholders agreeing on a generic set of valuation criteria
The UAE Kimberley Process Chair (KP Chair), Ahmed Bin Sulayem, will host a one-day ‘KP Chair Special Forum’ on rough diamond, which will take place at The Westin Dubai, Al Habtoor City, on Sunday, 13th of November, alongside the upcoming Plenary Session between 13 and 17 November 2016. The event will discuss key issues facing the industry with participants from 81 countries, as well as industry players from across the supply chain.
This is third forum of its kind hosted by the UAE KP Chair in line with his focus on the diamond valuation initiative towards the beneficiation of Africa. It will be built on the discussions from the previous workshops with the intention to reach consensus around the proposed list of criteria for rough diamond valuation, an issue that has been deemed complex, but vital to address, by governments and industry players alike.
The UAE KP Chair has previously hosted two workshops that looked to leverage the expertise and knowledge of industry players from across the diamond pipeline including institutions, experts and miners with a clear vision to establish best practices for rough diamond valuation. The first was held in collaboration with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to clarify the process of rough diamond valuation in a bid to strengthen the debate and have a consensus on universal conformity. The second forum was held in association with the Antwerp World Diamond Conference (AWDC) focusing on valuation practices employed by the global diamond industry.
During the 2nd KP Chair Special Forum on rough diamond valuation, a general consensus emerged that reverse engineering could be an essential tool for proper rough diamond valuation if and when accompanied by a unanimously agreed upon methodology and nomenclature of formatted sorting of rough parcels by trained valuators. Therefore, the third forum aims at moving these negotiations forward with an aim to reach consensus on the set of generic criteria including a methodology based on reverse engineering as well as other systems and processes.
Speaking on the importance of continuing discussions, Bin Sulayem said: “Rough diamond valuation is a complex process and subject to volatility and discrepancy between the various models applied across the world. We are fortunate to have the diamond industry’s best minds visiting Dubai for the Plenary Session to build upon our accomplishments from the past workshops and to move forward on the valuation discussion towards an actionable and standardized set of valuation criteria.”
Today, source markets in Africa are responsible for 65% of the world’s diamond production. However, the argument is often made that these nations do not receive a fair share of the value of their diamonds. Since the beginning of 2016, the UAE KP Chair has focused on bridging this gap and addressing this critical issue which has been the subject of much debate between the various stakeholders.
“As the UAE KP Chair, I would like to highlight the importance of the upcoming forum for the diamond industry as a whole. We made important strides in the past meetings with delegates agreeing on a preliminary set of criteria for diamond valuation and there is no doubt in our minds that the 3rd KP Special Forum – the last in the series - will be critical to the success of this evolving discussion. The KP community has a great responsibility to ensure we reach a consensus on this set of criteria as undervalued diamonds coming from Africa affect the livelihood of all people in African producing countries. We are confident that ensuring greater conformity will enable African nations to better manage their mineral wealth and receive their fair share from diamond production”, Bin Sulayem added.
The 3rd Special Forum will include two panels and will be moderated by Tim Dabson, Director - Tim Dabson Consulting Ltd. and Peter Meeus, Special Advisor - Diamonds, DMCC :
Panel 1:
- Gaetano Cavalieri, President of CIBJO
- Ernie Blom, President of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses
- Vipul Shah, CEO and Managing Director of Asian Star Group and Former Chairman of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council in India
- Edahn Golan, Founder of the Edahn Golan Diamond Research and Data
- Vinod Kurian, Chief Editor of GEMKonnect
Panel 2:
- Dorothee Gizenga, Executive Director of Diamond Development Initiative
- Dr. Ola Bello, Head of Governance of Africa’s Resources Programme (GARP), South African Institute of International Affair
- Kennedy Hamutenya, Diamond Commissioner of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Republic of Namibia
- Maurice Miema, KP Expert at the CEEC (Le Centre d'Expertise, d'Evaluation et de Certification), Democratic Republic of Congo
- Estanislau Buio Lau, Chair of the Committee on Participation and Chairmanship of the KPCS, Angola