IDE President Shmuel Schnitzer: "I am more convinced and believe that we can expect a good holiday sales season. America is our base and when I look back at the last few days it seems that most of the people here are happy."
The Israel Diamond Week, which is taking place in the Trading Hall of the DDC in New York, was officially opened on Tuesday. The opening ceremony was carried out by IDE President Shmuel Schnitzer and DDCNY President Reuven Kaufman in the presence of many diamantaires from Israel and New York.
President Kaufman said that New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio sent his best wishes for the Diamond Week and is expected to pay a visit. "In the nature of things, when two bourses meet, then things happen. As we all know, the market is not in the greatest of conditions right now and is need of improvement. However, we can still see positive signs in rough and polished and we hope that we will have a happy holiday season."
President Kaufman ended his comments by thanking all those who had helped bring the event to fruition. "I want to personally thank the IDE President Shmuel Schnitzer who has done so much for the Israeli industry and I wish him all the best. I also thank Jacob Kattan, Moti Fluk, Yossi Ben Zion, Doron Benita and all the people who work so hard for the success of the industry.
"A special thank you to Moti Besser for all his great efforts and contribution to the event and also to David Lasher, CEO of the DDC for his hard work. We know these are not easy times and we are happy to see you here. Have a successful week," Kaufman added.
President Schnitzer also thanked all the participants, saying that the DDC was a "sister" bourse to the Israeli exchange. "On a personal note, I wish to thank Reuven Kaufman and David Lasher for making us feel at home. Before arriving, I spoke to Doron Benita who said that more than 100 Israeli firms were taking part and that there was such a long waiting list that we were forced unfortunately to turn down their applications to participate. That is a good sign because it shows that people believe in the American market and in this Diamond Week event and I think they are right to do so. Looking around over the past couple of days, it seems that most people are happy."
Speaking about the challenges facing the industry, Schnitzer said: "These are not easy times, but continuing from what Reuven said in his speech we must always remember two things. Firstly, the diamond producers came to the conclusion that they should reduce supplies of rough to the market in order to strengthen it. Their levels of supply have fallen recently and this very much helps the industry.
"Secondly, although the situation in China is not great, according to reports the economy is expanding by 6% annually and this is very encouraging.
"We must always look at the cup half full and I am more convinced and believe that we can expect a good holiday sales season. America is our base and our main export market for Israeli diamond exporters. Our relations have proved themselves. I hope our history and tradition of diamond week fairs will continue. You are all invited to the next International Diamond Week in Israel in February. I wish you all a successful week."
