Diamond Industry Leaders Gather in Vladivostok before Eastern Economic Forum

(IDEX Online News) – Diamond industry leaders are meeting in the Russian city of Vladivostok ahead of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) Subjects up for discussion are diamond marketing and promotion, lab-grown diamonds and financing and investment opportunities.

Key speakers at the Diamond Forum, which will be moderated by AWDC CEO Ari Epstein, include ALROSA president Andrey Zharkov; WFDB president Ernest Blom; GJEPC chairman Vipul Shah; World Diamond Mark Foundation chair Alex Popov; Rosy Blue CEO Dilip Mehta; Patrick Kwok from Chow Tai Fook and Kris Cuyvers, of CASE consultants.

Other sessions include “Asia-Pacific and Russia: diamond industry growth opportunities,” which will be led by Olya Linde of Bain & Company (Moscow) and a Diamond Panel Discussion, which will discuss opportunities in new diamond jewelry markets and hear about government support for the diamond industry in Russia. The panel participants are: Egor Borisov, president of the Republic of Sakha/Yakutia; Maxim Shkadov, president of IDMA; Anoop Mehta, Bharat Diamond Bourse president; Sandro Sze of Brilliant Trading Company; Elena Kurchuk of DLA Piper Rus Ltd and Sandeep Kothari of KGK.

Ernest Blom said that with the diamond market undergoing structural changes in the various stages of the supply pipeline, such meetings are crucial in keeping the channels of communication between the various supply pipeline members open.

“An issue that concerns all of us here is the need to market diamonds more successfully and create better profit margins for all players in the market. Therefore, we are looking forward to update our colleagues about the work that is done by the World Diamond Mark – on behalf of the WFDB – in the arena of generic promotion to the consumer and to impress the need for other stakeholders to join us in these efforts,” he added.