Countdown to the 5th Dubai City of Gold Conference

The two day premier event for the global jewellery industry will discuss vital issues facing the sector and will host over 350 delegates from more than 20 countries including UK, South Africa, Italy, Belgium, India, Bahrain, KSA, China, Turkey and Switzerland, among others.

The conference will be inaugurated by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President Department of Civil Aviation and Chairman of Emirates. Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna Bint Khaled Al Qasimi, UAE Minister of Economy and Planning, will speak at the opening session.

Tawfique Abdullah, Chairman, Dubai Gold & Jewellery Group, commented, "The jewellery industry plays an increasingly important role in the regional and international economy and we are grateful to the UAE Government for supporting this convention.

"As the jewellery sector continues to grow, the need for cooperation, mutual understanding and sharing of information among members is essential; the Dubai City of Gold Conference is aimed at achieving this objective. It will also look at ways to establish a healthy industry growth rate and keep abreast of changing consumer demands."

The conference will touch upon a wide variety of relevant topics such as luxury marketing, supply and demand, consumer confidence building measures, successful retailing, and role of e-commerce and the changing face of jewellery marketing.
It has a high calibre speaker line up including Donna M. Baker, President of Gemological Institute of America; Peter Meeus, Executive Director Diamonds & Colored Stones - DMCC, Government of Dubai; Ernest Blom, President - World Federation of Diamond Bourses; Gaetano Cavalieri, President - The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO); Joseph Menzie, CEO - International Color Stone Association and many more.

On the sideline of the conference sessions, there are also two panel discussions- 'Where will the gold price go in 2007?' and 'Unified global jewellery marketing', lead by industry specialists.

Other events that will run in conjunction with the conference include a presentation by Standard Bank on 'Precious metals price direction in 2007' on the first day of the conference, followed by another on 'Does the jewellery industry care about the gold price?' on April 23rd.

Diamond Trading Company (DTC) will use the conference to launch their bridal programme on the final day of the event.

Standard Bank is the presenting sponsor and Transguard is a key sponsor for the 5th Dubai City of Gold conference. World Gold Council, Diamond Trading Company, HSBC and National Bank of Dubai are support sponsors.