The recent election of Nishit Parikh as new AWDC president for the coming two years, marks the very first time an individual of Indian origin is heading the Antwerp diamond sector’s primary representative organisation. He succeeds Jacky Roth as AWDC President. Mr. Roth served in the position for four years.

Mr. Parikh was one amongst six of the AWDC’s 12-person Board of Directors to be elected by direct election on June 16, and is serving a second term as an AWDC director, having first been elected in 2006. Freddy J. Hanard, CEO of AWDC said, “With his intimate knowledge of the diamond business and his long record of public service, he comes well equipped to fill this role. And with his dedication to the continued strength of the Antwerp centre, we are confident that, just like his predecessors, he will loyally defend the interests of all the sectors that make up our business community.”

Mr. Parikh, born in Navsari, India and now a Belgian citizen, today heads his family business Diarough, a De Beers sightholder, and which delves in cutting and polishing of diamonds in its factories in India, Thailand, Botswana, South Africa and Canada.

The Board of Directors of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) also elected two vice presidents Philippe Barsamian (who is a representative of the Antwerp diamond bourses) and Stéphane Fischler (representing the manufacturers’ associations), to serve alongside Mr. Parikh.