Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will give speeches to the December 11-12 World Diamond Conference in New Delhi.
India's Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) hopes to ink a diamond supply agreement with Russia when Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the country this week.
Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will give speeches to the December 11-12 World Diamond Conference in New Delhi.
GJEPC Chairman Vipul Shah said, “India is the major diamond polishing hub and Russia, which is poised to spend significantly in diamond exploration in the future, are natural diamond partners and are expected to gain enormously with the direct partnership proposed by the industry.
"The visit of Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, to India during the World Diamond Conference is of great significance and we are hopeful that our proposals for direct sourcing and a special notified zone in India and the revised structure are accepted and announced at this forum."
The conference will feature top officials from global diamond and jewelry organizations and firms, who will debate the future consumer market for polished diamonds and diamond jewelry, and the tools and measures needed to create demand among younger consumers in particular for diamonds.
The first day of the conference will hear about various aspects of marketing diamonds and diamond jewelry. The speakers include De Beers Executive Director Stephen Lussier, Alrosa President Ilya Raschin and vice president Andrey Polyakov, Rio Tinto Diamonds CEO Jean Marc Lieberherr, and Endiama CEO Antonio Carlos Sumbula.
A panel of leading retail jewelers, 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, will also take part.
The second day of the conference will feature panels that will discuss the diamond industry's current issues. World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) President Ernie Blom, International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA) President Maxim Shkadov, CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri, and World Diamond Council (WDC) President Edward Asscher, together with leaders of the Bharat Diamond Bourse and the GJEPC will discuss issues of financing, CSR and other matters with bankers, including Erik Jens of ABN AMRO, Arundhati Bhattacharya of the State Bank of India and others.
