Dear Friends and Colleagues, 

First, another vote of thanks to Fabio Cascapra, Suresh Hathiramani, Kam Su Li, and the fantastic TGI team: Esther, Fenni, Niccolo, and all other team members who made this congress such a smooth, seamless, pleasant, and very welcoming event.   

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Then, we extend IDMA’s best wishes to the newly elected WFDB President Mehul Shah; his Vice-Presidents Philippe Barsamian and Luigi Cosma; Secretary-General Rony Unterman, and his deputy, William Vercammen; Treasurer-GeneralMolefi Letsiki, and his deputy Raphael Adler, and the newly elected WFDB board members  

And, last but not least, we recognize and thank Yoram Dvash and Moshe Salem for their services and contributions. 

During IDMA’s meetings, our discussions revolved around, on the one hand, the shrinking membership of IDMA’s original membership due to the contraction of the manufacturing centers, and, on the other hand, the need for the existing and rising African manufacturing hubs to have closer relations with IDMA.  

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At the same time, we also discussed IDMA’s intention to bring more added-value services to diamond-producing nations. 

During this congress, we received the news that the Canadian Ekati mine is shutting down and that De Beers is temporarily suspending mining at its landmark Venetia mine in South Africa. 

And, therefore, I want to circle back to my opening remarks: natural diamonds remain one of the most extraordinary products in the world. 

The challenge is that we stopped telling the story in a way that creates desire. 

We stopped making consumers dream. 

However, the opportunity is still there – we simply have to reconnect consumers with that story. 

At this congress, we have heard valuable contributions about how we can bring back consumer desire for diamonds.  

To make this work, we all need to support the current initiatives of the NDC, and to realize that it is unreasonable to expect immediate miraculous results. Our support and patience are critical. 

Because – and this has been my mantra forever – We are all in this together.  

Please remember this.  

Gem Spectrum is proud to be a media partner of the World Diamond Congress 2026!

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