Around 400 dignitaries and leading personalities of the global diamond industry including centres like India, Africa, Antwerp etc. gathered at the The Dubai Diamond Conference which unfolded today at the Almas Tower at JLT, Dubai, with His Excellency Dr.Saeed Mohammed Al Shamsi,assistant Foreign Minister for International Organisations as the chief guest. The Conference focus is on the new silk route, that of moving rough diamonds through Dubai and of Dubai becoming an important trading centre.

During the morning session at the Conference, Ahmed Bin Sulayem ,Executive chairman , DMCC described the vision of Dubai 20 years back and the accomplishments since the past 10 years when DMCC was formed. The Almas tower today has more then 600 members and is growing every day. Dubai stands tall with its infrastructure, policies, hospitality, location, and the new silk route will enable an advantage to Dubai once the DTC office moves from London to Botswana by end of this year. This aspect was further elucidated by Peter Meeus, Chairman of the Board of Directors,DDE. Varda Shine ,CEO of DTC mentioned in her speech that "we are in good and healthy industry the fundamentals of demand and supply are in our favour. The dynamics are changing and liquidity, value addition and benefeciation to mining countries will stay here and is not unique to diamond industry."

Vipul shah, Chairman GJEPC spoke about the great story of India as being the largest manufacturing centre in the world and the highest consuming country of rough stones. He also mentioned about India as a local consuming market of diamonds and jewellery. He appealed to the mining companies to create a fund in support of generic promotion of diamonds to help increase demand. He also spoke about the help given by financial institutions to Indian diamantaires which further helped the world diamond industry.

Speaking at the opening session World Diamond Council President Eli Izhakoff said, "Our role as leaders of this industry, on the one hand, is to ensure that the foundation of our enterprise is secure for the future, and that we do by defending the integrity of both diamonds and the diamond industry, as well by ascertaining that all stakeholders benefit fairly from the revenues that are generated. We also need to be astute managers, investing wisely in infrastructure, technology, human resources and market research, and taking long-term advantage of opportunities as they present themselves. 'Carpe diem,' or seize the day, as the Romans used to say."

Other important personalities attending the event include - Vipul shah , Chairman GJEPC; Hon.Dr. Obert Moses Mpofu ,Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Republic of Zimbabwe; Maxim Shkadov,President IDMA; Eli Izhakoff,President WDC; Dilip Mehta of Rosy Blue; Pankaj Mehta of Dimexon; Rajesh Mehta of Supergems; Tony mehta from Diasqua Group; Amit Dhamani from Dhamani Jewels, Nirupa Bhatt, GIA Head India and Middle east, and few other diamond dealers.