Borsa İstanbul CEO Tuncay Dinç, Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) President Stephane Fischler and JTR Jewellery Exporters’ Association Chairman Ayhan Güner signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today in the presence of Belgium Foreign Trade Minister Pieter de Crem. The MoU aims at strengthening the diamond trade between the two countries.
A trade delegate headed by Belgium Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Pieter de Crem including Antwerp Governor Cathy Berx as well as the representatives of Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), established in Antwerp, Belgium by diamond companies in order to further diamond trade in Belgium, visited Istanbul for an important cooperation. As part of the visit, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Borsa İstanbul, AWDC and JTR Jewellery Exporters’ Association for the purpose of furthering the diamond trade between Turkey and Belgium.
The signing ceremony was held in the presence of Belgium Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Pieter de Crem. The MoU was signed by Borsa İstanbul CEO Tuncay Dinç, AWDC President Stephane Fischler and JTR Jewellery Exporters’ Association Chairman Ayhan Güner.
In his speech he delivered prior to the ceremony held at Armaggan Art & Design Gallery today, Borsa İstanbul CEO Tuncay Dinç said, “As the three exchanges operating in the Turkish capital markets merged under the roof of Borsa İstanbul in 2012, a significant step was made for the development of the Turkish financial market as well as the related sectors. Following the merger, İstanbul Gold Exchange started operating as part of Borsa İstanbul as Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, where the precious metals of the jewellery sector, namely, gold and silver, as well as other precious gems including diamond, ruby, emerald and pearl are duly traded by our members. Turkey ranks 3rd in gold jewellery production; 4th in physical gold demand; 5th in jewellery consumption; 11th in Central Bank reserves; 2nd in gold jewellery exports; and 5th in the sector in general”.
Belgium Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Pieter de Crem indicated that diamond trade in Antwerp has a history of more than 500 years, adding, “84 % of rough diamonds and 50% of all polished diamonds in the world are traded in Antwerp. Last year, the total diamond trade volume increased to a staggering US $ 58 billion. On a daily basis, 600 shipments are realized, worth US$ 260 million.”
Pointing to the fact that Istanbul is an intercontinental bridge, de Crem said that the annual internal diamond consumption in Turkey is estimated at approximately US$ 235 million, and went on to say, “On an annual basis, Turkey exports jewellery of US$ 2.2 billion. Last year, we exported a little bit more than 11,000 carats of polished diamonds to Turkey, US $ 20 million. Through this MoU, we hope to increase this amount.”
AWDC President Stephane Fischler said, “We defined a roadmap for the year 2020. This roadmap resembles Turkey’s 2023 vision in the sense that it aims at increasing wealth. Antwerp is the world’s largest diamond trade center of the world. In Antwerp, we added “confidence” to the 4C diamond criteria, namely; carat, clarity, cut, and colour. We will build such an infrastructure that both the sector will grow, and we will re-define the criteria as 5C.”
Governor of the Province of Antwerp, Cathy Berx said that despite the fact that Antwerp is only half the size of Istanbul, it accounts for a large part of the Belgian economy. Berx pointed out that Antwerp is the world’s second petro-chemical region after Texas, adding, “We prepared a long-term strategic plan for Antwerp. The main target of this plan is innovation, and secondly, ensuring confidence.”
HRD Antwerp CFO Michel Janssens said: “Antwerp has worldwide experience in diamond, and to that, we will add “rating”. Turkey will help us to reach the markets we fail to reach from Belgium. We will develop diamond trade not only in Turkey, but also in her neighbourhood.”
JTR Jewellery Exporters’ Association Chairman Ayhan Güner said that Belgium is a master in diamond trade, whereas Turkey is a master in mounting diamonds, and if the two countries join their powers, jewellery sales to third countries will boom. Güner pointed out that the establishment of an exchange, HRD’s opening a branch in Turkey, and Turkey’s ranking third in production capacity after China and India led the Istanbul Exhibition to be the only one to increase the number of foreign guests, adding that such positive developments lead them to see the future of the Turkish jewellery sector with hope.
During the Belgian trade delegation’s visit, HRD Antwerp Turkey building was officially inaugurated. HRD Antwerp is engaged in delivering international diamond certificates.
