Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) signed a cooperation agreement with the world’s leading diamond mining company, Alrosa on April 24th during the City of Antwerp’s Mission to Russia, organised in cooperation with the Port of Antwerp.
AWDC said that signing this new cooperation agreement with Alrosa will expand and strengthen the privileged relationship between these leading organisations for years to come. Present at the official signing ceremony were Bart de Wever, Mayor of Antwerp, Jean-Arthur Regibeau, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to Russia, AWDC CEO Ari Epstein and Alrosa CEO Sergey Ivanov.
The objective of this new cooperation agreement is to improve the scope and efficiency of the ties between Alrosa and AWDC, and to commit to supporting one another across a broad spectrum of topics, from the open exchange of information to the promotion of joint marketing initiatives. It also seals their mutual commitment to protect the integrity and transparency of the diamond value chain by supporting the work of the World Diamond Council and the Kimberley Process, and reaffirms their efforts to improve consumer confidence in diamonds as a product.
“As the official representative of the Antwerp diamond industry, AWDC is committed to ensuring Antwerp remains the world’s leading diamond trade centre, and to defending the interests of its 1,600 companies at home as well as abroad, now and in the future,” said Epstein.
Ivanov added, “Belgium is the world’s largest diamond trading centre and Alrosa’s largest trade partner. In 2017 alone, Alrosa supplied rough diamonds worth over $2 billion to companies in Belgium. Alrosa has 55 long-term clients who buy gem-quality rough diamonds, and 21 of them are companies from Belgium. That is why we are interested in cooperating with this market and its industry organisations.” The Russian Federation is the largest producer of rough diamonds worldwide, in value as well as volume. Nearly 85% of all rough diamonds mined worldwide are traded in Antwerp.