World Diamond Council announces registration for 7th Annual Meeting in St. Petersburg, July 14-15

The World Diamond Council (WDC) has announced that registration has begun for the organization's seventh Annual Meeting, which this year will be held in the Russian city of St. Petersburg, July 14 and 15, 2010. The event, which is being hosted by the Diamond Chamber of Russia, will draw senior government and jewelry industry officials from Russia and other countries.

"Our industry will gather at the World Diamond Council Annual Meeting to reconfirm our commitment to ethical trading and to the eradication of conflict diamonds from our distribution chain," said Eli Izhakoff, the WDC Chairman. "And, as the past year has demonstrated, we will not be assembling in St. Petersburg simply to pay lip-service to the values upon which the organization was founded. The ongoing situation in countries like Zimbabwe and the dedication of our industry to operate in a transparent and principled manner means that there are burning issues on the table, which we will discuss and for which we will formulate strategies."

"We are honored to be able to play host to the event," said Sergey Oulin, President of the Diamond Chamber of Russia and Vice Chairman of the WDC. "We deal in a beautiful and valuable item whose reputation needs to be protected and defended. In that respect we felt it was fitting that the meeting take place in St. Petersburg, one of the world's most beautiful cities, which is called Russia's jewelry capital."

The WDC Annual Meeting will begin on Wednesday, July 14, with committee working sessions. The official opening of the meeting will take place on the morning of Thursday, June 15. It will be followed immediately by the WDC Plenary Session, where a guest of honor and keynote speaker will be Boaz Hirsch, the Chairman of the Kimberley Process and a senior Israeli government official. A Gala Dinner will conclude the proceedings on the second day.

A dedicated mini-website has been created for WDC Annual Meeting at:
www.diamond-chamber.ru/wdceng.htm. Registration forms can be downloaded in PDF format from the website, and once completed must be returned to the official agent of the meeting, the Restec Exhibition Company. Information about hotel accommodation in St. Petersburg is included in the registration documents.

The Annual Meeting organizers are offering participants of the meeting and their accompanying persons visa support, special accommodation rates, an airport meeting service and an "airport-hotel-airport" transfer. A cultural program will be offered to participants' accompanying persons during the working sessions.

The WDC Annual Meeting in St. Petersburg will commence the day after the close of the World Diamond Congress of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA), which is taking place in Moscow, July 11-13. Participants at the World Diamond Congress who wish to attend the WDC Annual Meeting will be able to travel from Moscow to St. Petersburg during the afternoon or evening of July 13.