ISDE President Yoram Dvash

IDE PRESIDENT YORAM DVASH TALKS ON THE STATE OF THE ISRAELI DIAMOND SECTOR

In an interview with Rough & Polished held after the International Diamond Week in Israel (IDWI) in mid-February, Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) and Vice-President of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) Yoram Dvash spoke of the state of the local and global diamond markets, as well as the recent IDWI, the development in the Israeli diamond bourse and its plans for the future.

 

When asked to summarize this year’s IDWI, Dvash called it “the largest and most successful edition of the fair held so far”. He spoke of the significant rise in the number of buyers and visitors, as well as the “huge interest in the goods offered by Israeli companies”.

 

As for the current state of the markets, Dvash said that 2016 was an improvement compared to a “terrible” 2015. “Currently, we see that China is going up and the US is stable and reasonable”, Dvash said, “We hope that this continues. It’s possible that Trump victory will help business and the diamond trade as well this year”.

 

He called the signing of the agreement between the Israeli diamond trade and the national Tax Authority as the “biggest thing to happen” in the Israeli diamond sector last year, since it “allows businesses to concentrate on doing what they should be doing – running their companies – and not worrying about how much tax they will or won’t pay”. The new system enables Israeli diamantaires “to pay tax on their profit and not turnover”, according to Dvash. He added that the new system satisfies the Banking Supervisor and the Bank of Israel Governor “and that will make it easier for us regarding the banks [credit] since the situation is now much more transparent”.

 

Dvash also spoke of the new manufacturing center of large diamonds, which will be open at the IDE complex in Ramat Gan. He also noted the upcoming opening of the Internet center for IDE members, the inauguration of the new Laser Cutting Room in the IDE complex, and the opening the new International Tenders Center during the IDWI.

 

“Our aim”, said Dvash, “is to create a lot of activity by attracting as much rough as possible. Alrosa President Andrei Zharkov told us that his company is committed to bringing large amounts of rough to Israel that are suited to the needs of our members. We are delighted that this is going to happen; it shows the strength and importance of the Israeli market”.

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