36th World Diamond Congress closed on a very positive note with a record attendance. The congress brought together the key industry players in this city, “The Diamond capital of the world” with all 30 member bourses represented. The Congress was jointly held with IDMA and well attended by major sister organisations including CIBJO and the World Diamond Council, comprising the leadership of the industry.

Key issues discussed over the four days covered many aspects including:

1. Formally approving the membership of Canada and South Korea as members of the WFDB. The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council India (GJEPC) was also admitted as an Associate member. This forms part of a broader strategy implemented to expand the membership base by getting producing countries and mining companies to expand the WFDB membership base.


2. Synthetics coupled with lab reports formed a part of the discussions. A decision was made to speak with one voice and ensure uniformity in lab reports while keeping a watchful eye on synthetic diamonds, ensuring that they are disclosed as synthetics. The meeting made it clear that synthetics were not seen as an enemy as they have their own market niche but that they must be marketed with full disclosure.


3. Gender equality was discussed and very strong support was shown by delegates for the WFDB to see more young people and more female members. The President, Mr. Ernie Blom reflected that in order to secure the WFDB’s future and relevance it was key to start developing the next generation of leaders.


4. Communications formed an important part of discussions with the new WFDB website being launched, including social media platforms. The Congress stressed that communications is the corner stone of WFDB and industry development in the future. The speed at which the WFDB can communicate with its full membership and the global sector at large was critical. “Telling the Story” is key to building consumer confidence and top of mind awareness for diamond jewellery.

The meetings closed with the announcement that the 2015 Presidents’ Meetings will take place in Israel and the 2016 World Diamond Congress will be held in Dubai.