Panama Gem & Jewelry Center Prepares for Launch

A new website enables participants to register online and book flights and hotel rates at especially discounted rates.

The Panama Gem & Jewelry Center has launched a registration website ahead of its official launch on March 17 and 18.

The Panama Gem & Jewelry Center will be anchored by the Panama Diamond Exchange (PDE), the first and only diamond bourse in Latin America. It will be a dedicated facility for trade in diamonds, jewelry and colored stones in the huge region that includes South and Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean.

The guest of honor at the launch will be President Ricardo Martinelli, Panama's head of state. Industry leaders who have so far confirmed participation are: Eli Izhakoff, Hon. President of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses and the World Diamond Council; Ernest Blom, President of the World Federation of the Diamond Bourses; Gaetano Cavalieri, President of CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation; Avi Paz, President of the World Diamond Council; Shmuel Schnitzer, President of the Israel Diamond Exchange; Reuven Kaufman, President of the Diamond Dealers Club of New York; Moti Ganz, Chairman of the Israel Diamond Institute, and Ronnie Vanderlinden, President of the Diamond Manufacturers and Importers Association of the United States.

Work has started on the first phase of the project due to cost more than $200 million. It will house a trading floor and offices of the diamond bourse, as well as extensive office space for companies. It is scheduled for completion and occupation by the fourth quarter of 2014.

The second stage of the project will include the development of a high-rise tower, where the lower floors will include the offices and trading floor of PDE and a jewelry mall, and the upper floors will include offices of diamond, jewelry, colored gemstone, pearl and precious metals companies, as well as service providers.

The Panama Gem & Jewelry Center has received the support of the Panamanian government which recently passed legislation that recognizes the area of the PDE as a Free Trade Zone, where residents do not incur customs duties on goods traded within the center and they are exempt from paying corporate taxes.

The website: www.pdecenterlaunch.com is available in Spanish and English.