Antwerp World Diamond Centre attends summits in Angola

This week the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) has embarked on a mission to Angola, who will become chairman of the Kimberley Process (KP) next year. AWDC has planned a number of important meetings with the Minister of Mines, the Minister of Economy and the future President of the KP.
In support of Angola’s KP chairmanship, AWDC, as requested by the Angolan government, is also organizing a number of workshops on the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.

Fourteen years ago, Antwerp was the first to start the battle against the trade in conflict diamonds, which were used to fund, among other things, the civil war in Angola. With its ‘No weapons for diamonds’ campaign, Antwerp made it clear that it did not and would not support the trade in conflict diamonds. “At the same time, the Antwerp Diamond High Council (currently known as AWDC) assisted Angola in the development of an efficient and stringent control system, so that the Angolan government would one day be able to continue its diamond trade in a controlled manner,” says Ari Epstein, CEO of the AWDC.

Thanks to this control system, the UN withdrew its sanctions against Angola in 2002. Now that Angola is set to become chairman of the KP next year, the country has invited the Antwerp diamond sector to a number of important meetings. "This comes as no surprise, because Antwerp is the world’s most transparent trading center for diamonds. As chairman of the KP, Angola will be at the helm of the key mechanism that ensures transparency in the diamond trade," says Epstein. As a member of the World Diamond Council (WDC), AWDC plays an active and constructive role in the KP. AWDC is also the point of contact for the Secretariat of the KP, and will assist Angola in dealing with the practical aspects of the KP chairmanship.

AWDC will take part in a number of important meetings to strengthen the bilateral trade relations with Angola. In terms of value, Angola is now the world's fifth largest diamond producing country. In 2013, Angola produced 8.6 million carats of rough diamonds with a total value of $1.2 billion.