The UAE Kimberley Process Chair, Ahmed bin Sulayem, will host the third KP Chair Special Forum on rough diamonds on Sunday, alongside the upcoming Plenary Session, from 13th to 17th, November in Dubai.

The event will discuss key issues facing the industry, with participants from 81 countries along with industry players from across the supply chain.

The forum will build on the discussions from the previous workshops with the intention of reaching consensus around the proposed list of criteria for rough diamond valuation, an issue that has been deemed complex but vital to address by governments and industry players alike.

Speaking on the importance of continuing discussions, bin Sulayem said, "Rough diamond valuation is a complex process and subject to volatility and discrepancy between the various models applied across the world. We are fortunate to have the diamond industry’s best minds visiting Dubai for the Plenary Session to build upon our accomplishments from past workshops and to move forward on the valuation discussion towards an actionable and standardised set of valuation criteria."

Today, source markets in Africa are responsible for 65 percent of the world’s diamond production. However, the argument is often made that these nations do not receive a fair share of the value of their diamonds. Since the beginning of 2016, the UAE KP Chair has focused on bridging this gap and addressing this critical issue which has been the subject of much debate between the various stakeholders.

"As the UAE KP Chair, I would like to highlight the importance of the upcoming forum for the diamond industry as a whole. We made important strides in the past meetings with delegates agreeing on a preliminary set of criteria for diamond valuation and there is no doubt in our minds that the forum, the last in the series, will be critical to the success of this evolving discussion," bin Sulayem concluded.