BRICS Summit
Kazan. 22–24 October 2024

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Diamond Industry Representatives Call for Ensuring Freedom of Trade and Developing Dialogue in BRICS Format

The roundtable ‘Development of Cooperation in the Diamond Industry among BRICS Countries’ was held on 6 June 2024 on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum as part of Russia’s BRICS Chairship. The main topic of the event was the creation of an agenda for equal and fair interaction between the parties involved in all segments of the global diamond trade.

The roundtable participants discussed challenges associated with the sustainable development of the global diamond industry and noted the decisive role that BRICS countries play in maintaining the market’s stability. In their presentations, experts spoke about such issues as creating new forms of direct cooperation between diamond mining and processing centres, stimulating demand for natural diamonds in growing consumer markets, and providing diamond mining companies with access to global supply chains.

The global diamond industry has been experiencing turbulence for more than two years. The only universal mechanism for regulating the global diamond trade, the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), is being undermined by the attempts of numerous countries to introduce unilateral trade barriers. Combined with a decrease in demand, this has a negative impact on the economies of numerous market participants, primarily on diamond mining and processing countries, including those that are BRICS members.

However, in terms of purchasing power parity, BRICS countries currently account for more than 35% of world GDP collectively. The growth potential of these countries’ economies will increase significantly in the coming years, including the consumption of jewellery. This is why several participants in the global diamond industry are already discussing new forms of interaction based on the principle of free trade in diamond products and support for diamond-producing countries in Africa.

“The interests of all participants could be united in the BRICS trade and economic space: major diamond-mining countries that develop deposits on an industrial scale, countries with predominantly artisanal alluvial diamond mining, centres of diamond trade, cutting, and jewellery production, and the growing markets for finished products. New cooperation mechanisms will ensure the stability of the global diamond market and preserve the system of the free global trade of diamond products based on the core principles of the Kimberley Process,” ALROSA CEO Pavel Marinychev said in his speech.

“We are highly interested in maintaining a balance on the global diamond market. Given the illegal unilateral restrictions that certain Western countries have imposed on Russian diamonds, it is crucial for us to support the efforts of ALROSA, which aim to diversify international supply markets. For example, this will make it possible to maintain the sustainable socioeconomic development of Yakutia,” Head of Yakutia Aysen Nikolayev said in his speech. “We see great prospects for expanding cooperation in the diamond industry in terms of exchanging experience and technology, conducting joint research and development, creating joint ventures, making investments, as well as marketing strategies. These and other cooperation measures could help strengthen mutual understanding and enhance the competitiveness of the BRICS diamond industry on the global market along the entire value chain.”

During the roundtable, the discussion participants stressed that it is fundamentally important for the entire global industry that BRICS markets remain open to the free trade of diamond products based on the universal principles of the KPCS and that industry standards for responsible diamond mining be developed by diamond-producing countries and organizations themselves.

The Roscongress Foundation manages the events of Russia’s BRICS Chairship.

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