The forthcoming 33rd 2008 World Diamond Congress will be in the news spotlight for reasons of its participation and venue. It is the first such to be held in preparations are in full swing in Shanghai, China. The congress is scheduled to open at the Portman Ritz-Carlton hotel in Shanghai on Monday, May 12, and close on Thursday, May 14. Shanghai Diamond Exchange and the CCJP Diamond Manufacturers Association are the hosts to the event.

The invitees include Sergey Vybornov, president of Alrosa, who will be attending his first ever World Diamond Congress. He has been invited by the WFDB to address the Opening Session at the Congress. Also, delegations from three new diamond bourses, namely, They are the Diamond Dealers Club of Australia, the Istanbul Gold and Diamond Exchange and the Panama Diamond Exchange will be attending and have applied to join the WFDB.

"This is quite remarkable," said Ernest Blom, the WFDB president. "In my memory, I cannot remember a congress where three new bourses formally applied to join the federation. And what is particularly exciting is that each of these bourses are located in markets that previously had not been represented”.

The Congress traditionally is a gathering of diamond industry leaders, where the general assemblies of the WFDB and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA) gather. The Congress would also be taken to Antwerp, the headquarters of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses.