BRUSSELS (AFP) - Diamond industry leaders gather in Antwerp vowing to polish up their business's image, clouded increasingly by competition from synthetic products to add to scares over so-called conflict diamonds.
South African President Thabo Mbeki is the keynote speaker at a two-day conference in the northern Belgian port city, long known as the world capital of the ultimate gemstone.
"For the diamond to maintain its status as a sought-after luxury product, the consumer must continue to consider it both unique and rare," said Peter Meeus, head of the Diamond High Council.
"Those are qualities that can be found primarily in natural stones," he added.
Every year Antwerp, Belgium's second city, sees some 80 percent of the world's uncut diamonds pass through its workshops and dealing rooms, and more than 50 percent of the global supply of cut diamonds.
The first shadows to threaten the gem's sparkle came in 1999, when the public became aware of so-called blood- or conflict diamonds that helped fund conflicts in Africa, while suspicions of money-laundering also surfaced.
The introduction of the Kimberley Certificate, designed to prove the origin of rough diamonds, has already done much to reassure customers.
But experts point out that technical developments -- including high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) methods to change a diamond's colour, and the creation of gem-quality synthetics -- are a new challenge to their marketing skills.
"If one is looking for an issue that is likely to dominate the industry agenda in the months ahead, it would be fair to say that consumer confidence is the one," said Meeus.
As well as a more aggressive marketing strategy, the industry is also being urged to tighten up its certification procedures -- specifically by fighting against certificates for synthetic diamonds.
"This should be clear and unequivocal so that the consumers are fully aware of, and confident in, the nature of the product they are purchasing," said the World Diamond Congress in a resolution at its meeting in New York last month.
Along with South Africa's president, other speakers will include Vladimir Kalitin of Russia's Alrosa diamond producing monopoly and Gary Ralfe, deputy head of South African group De Beers.
Past keynote speakers at the annual event, now in its third year, have included former US president Bill Clinton.
11/14/2004 - 20:19 GMT - AFP