IDWI concludes with the face to the future!
The 7th International Diamond Week (IDWI), remained open during February 5 to 7 & concluded with a prevailing sense of optimism. The event hosted 500 buyers from 30 countries, with 200 diamond and jewelry companies exhibiting their goods at the Trading Hall of the Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE).
The three-day event was accompanied by Get Diamonds, the Israeli Diamond Industry’s official online B2B trading platform, which helped buyers to locate stocks on offer by Israeli exhibitors at the event. The IDWI promoted several tech innovations and three new projects were unveiled by the IDE: a new diamond-based crypto currency, a new online store on Alibaba.com, and IDE’s new tech incubator, Diamond Tech.
The opening ceremony of the event was attended by Minister of Economy and Industry Eli Cohen and other senior officials. IDE President Yoram Dvash said that Cohen is the minister “who has done the most for the Israeli diamond trade”, adding: “Together with Cohen, the bourse management is making every effort to push the industry forward so it can be great again”.
Cohen said that he is committed to bringing the Israeli diamond industry to its glory days, and spoke about the work of the governmental committee established to examine credit guidelines and growth in the industry. The committee is headed by Naama Kaufman-Pass, Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Economy and Industry responsible for industry.
At the end of his speech, Cohen handed the committee’s report to Dvash, who congratulated the committee for its work, and said that the committee’s recommendations could help the Israel diamond industry grow and become a world leader. The report’s central recommendation focuses on giving the diamond industry $1 billion in credit, backed by the state.
The committee also recommended investing in IDE’s tech incubator; help fund conferences abroad and bringing buyers to Israel; promoting online trade platforms; investing in a factory for polishing large diamonds, and more.
Other speakers at the opening event included Ramat Gan’s Mayor Israel Zinger, Alrosa representative Evgenny Agoric, and President of the Israel Diamond Manufacturers Association (IsDMA) Kobi Korn.
