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GJEPC Mine to Market 2017 conference to begin this week

The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC)announced that the Mines to Market 2017 conference will be held on March 18 and 19, 2017 at Hotel Grand Hyatt, Mumbai.

Mining ministers of major rough diamond producing countries, including South Africa, Central Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, will be attending the conference.

Commenting on theevent, chairman of GJEPC Praveenshankar Pandya said: “India is the largest cut and polished diamond manufacturer in the world. 93 percent of its production is exported. As a major player in the world market, I believe it is our responsibility – and I take pride in it – to organise this event wherein we bring together all the stakeholders from the world diamond industry on a single platform to discuss various challenges faced by the industry and come out with a future road map.”

The conference will comprehensively cover all segments of the diamond pipeline including mining, manufacturing, and retail.Representatives from De Beers and Alrosa will speak on the state and future of the mining industry on the first day.

The panelists for the mining session include Kennedy Hamutenya, diamond commissioner, Ministry of Mines and Energy, Namibia; Jim Pounds, executive vice president, diamonds, Dominion Diamond Corporation; representative from Rio Tinto; and Rajiv Mehta, Dimexon.

The session on midstream will see speakers and panelists deliberating on the topic ‘Survival in the Absence of Growth’. Participants for the session include Maujibhai Patel, managing director, Kiran Gems Pvt Ltd; Stephane Fischler, president, Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC); Ernest Blom, president, World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB); Sanjay Kothari, vice chairman, KGK Group of Companies; and Ghanshyam Dholakia, managing director, Harikrishna Exports Pvt Ltd. The session will be moderated by Des Kilalea, a renowned global analyst.

In the marketing and retail session, speakers and panellists, including Oded Edelman, Jamesallen.com; David A Bouffard, vice president, Signet Corporate Affairs at Signet Jewelers; Jean Marc Lieberherr, CEO, Diamond Producers Association and Sandeep Kulhalli, vice president, marketing and retail, Tanishqwill discuss the topic of ‘Innovation in Stagflation’.

Expert views on ‘New Realities of Diamond Financing’ will be covered in the international finance session, and the speakers and panelists include representatives from Reserve Bank of India, Singapore Investment Diamond Exchange, State Bank of India and IndusInd Bank.

Panelists for the ‘Valuation with Kimberley Process’ session include Feriel Zarouki, head of government and industry relations, De Beers; Sabyasachi Ray, GJEPC; representative from the Democratic Republic of Congo; Mark Van Bockstael, chair,The Working Group of Diamond Experts (WGDE) and Peter Meeus, chairman, Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE).

Finally, a topic on diamond certification will have speakers and panellists including   Tom Moses, executive vice president and chief laboratory and research officer, Gemological Institute of America (GIA); Marc Brauner, Co-CEO, International Gemological Institute(IGI); Ans Anthonis, chief officer ofdiamond lab and research, HRD Antwerp; and Mark Gershburg, CEO, Gemological Science International (GSI) and representative from National Gemstone Testing Centre (NGTC), China.

The second day of the conference also includes a presentation on the impact of synthetics on the natural diamond industry by Chaim Even Zohar and a presentation by the Bonas Group.

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