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(TALKZIMBABWE) India to set up diamond institute in Zimbabwe

India to set up diamond institute in Zimbabwe
By: Tradingmarkets.com
Posted: Thursday, October 21, 2010 1:56 am

INTERNATIONAL diamond trading nation, India could soon establish a diamond institute in Zimbabwe that will offer training services in the area of value addition to the precious mineral.

Indian Diamond Institute chairman Mr Aagam Sanghavi said that his organisation had proposed to train Zimbabweans in the area of diamond designing, cutting and polishing.

"We will train the young talents of Zimbabwe in diamond cutting and polishing.

"If need be, we would also set up an institute in Harare so that the unemployed youths can be trained and they start adding value to the diamonds," he said.

The offer by the institute to train Zimbabweans through its structures has been buttressed by the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Indian diamond sourcing consortium, Surat Rough Diamond Sourcing India Ltd, and Zimbabwe’s Minister of Mines and Mining Development Mr Obert Mpofu.

In terms of this MoU, the Indian Diamond Institute will train young workers in Zimbabwe as diamond cutters and polishers in exchange for a direct supply of rough diamonds to Surat.

According to the SRDSIL chairman Mr Ashit Mehta, Surat is targeting to receive US$1,2 billion worth of rough diamonds from Zimbabwe annually.

Minister Mpofu has indicated that the country could become a top diamond producer within a three-year-period.

"The two diamond-mining firms are extracting diamonds from 1 000-hectare land. We have the remaining 76 000 hectares of land having a huge reserve of diamonds.

"If it is exploited then we may become the world’s top diamond producing country," said Minister Mpofu during the earlier part of his visit to India.

Meanwhile, ABN Amro has said that it has not boycotted Zimbabwe diamonds.

This comes at the back of reports that two European banking groups, ABN Amro and the Antwerp Diamond Bank had indicated during the Bank Finance session on the second day of the Mines to Market conference in Mumbai this week, that they would not finance international diamond transactions with Zimbabwe, citing reputation concerns over dealing with the country.

ABN Amro Bank NV’s International Diamond and Jewellery Group chief executive officer Mr Victor Van Der Kwast, clarified to the Times of India earlier statements made during the Mines to Market conference in Mumbai this week regarding his bank’s refusal to deal with Zimbabwe or its diamond sector.

Mr Van Der Kwast told the newspaper that his bank is not hostile to Zimbabwe and could help the country exploit its diamond resources.

"But since we operate in Europe, we have to follow the rules and regulations and the European Union’s sanctions on Zimbabwe.

"We want to assure the diamond people in Zimbabwe and India, especially Surat that we will take a trade delegation to Zimbabwe to resolve the issue," he said.

Zimbabwe had accumulated a stockpile of around six million carats of diamonds during the pre-Kimberely Process (KP) certification period.

India has since become a key buyer of Zimbabwean diamonds since the commencement of auctioning.

Labels: AAGAM SANGHAVI, DIAMONDS, INDIA, INDIAN DIAMOND INSTITUTE, KIMBERLEY PROCESS

posted by MrK @ 2:29 AM