Dubai Diamond Conference 2013 announces key speakers

Set to be the most significant diamond event of the year, the conference will take place from 18-19 March at Almas Tower in Jumeirah Lakes Towers; home to the Dubai Diamond Exchange, one of the world's leading diamond trading platforms. The conference will be officially opened by H.E. Dr Saeed M Al Shamsi, UAE Foreign Affairs Minister for International Organisations, Foreign and Humanitarian Aid, Studies & Research Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

DDC 2013 is also pleased to welcome Varda Shine, Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Trading Company (DTC), a De Beers Group company and Eli Izhakoff, President of the World Diamond Council, as official speakers.

Peter Meeus, Chairman, Dubai Diamond Exchange, adds:"2013 is a game-changing year for the diamond industry worldwide. For more than 80 years, De Beers, the largest miner in the world, sold its production from London through its subsidiary the Diamond Trading Company. This year it moved all its sales operations to Gaborone in Botswana.

The move will further strengthen Dubai's role in between the producing countries in Africa and the cutting centres in India and the Far East. The fact that DTC's Chief Executive Officer, Varda Shine will be attending the conference highlights the importance of these global shifts."

Centred around the theme of 'the New Silk Route,' DDC 2013 will bring together over 450 stakeholders from the diamond industry including government ministers, regulators, policy advisors, jewellers and traders. Attendees will discuss and debate the New Silk Route and how diamonds from producing nations in Africa will utilise Dubai's logistical hub when accessing cutting centres in India and the Far East.

Eli Izhakoff, President, World Diamond Council, said:"As the gateway for trade flow between the East and West, Dubai is certainly the most appropriate location for an international diamond conference. With the attendance of so many key officials, both from the producing countries and the industry, the Dubai Diamond Conference will enable us to examine together how to optimise the role of diamond resources in the economic development of the region."