India secures four seats on CIBJO’s Board of Directors as WFDB’s Mehul Shah and GJEPC Chairman Kirit Bhansali join the World Jewellery Confederation’s leadership.
Key Highlights
- Mehul Shah (WFDB/BDB) and Kirit Bhansali (GJEPC) were elected to CIBJO’s Board of Directors.
- India’s representation on the CIBJO Board increases to four members.
- Pramod Agarwal was re-elected as CIBJO Vice President.
- Vaishali Banerjee (PGI India) also joins the Board.
- CIBJO reaffirmed its role as the industry’s oldest global standards-setting organisation.
- Mehul Shah called for greater transparency in differentiating laboratory-grown and natural gemstones.
- Shah highlighted India’s position as the world’s second-largest consumer market for diamonds.
India has further strengthened its influence in the global gem and jewellery industry after Mehul Shah, President of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) and Vice President of Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB), and Kirit Bhansali, Chairman of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), were elected to the Board of Directors of The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) during the organisation’s Centenary Congress in Vicenza, Italy.
The elections, announced following the conclusion of the Congress on September 7, increase India’s representation on CIBJO’s Board to four members, highlighting the country’s growing importance as both a leading manufacturing-exporting nation and one of the world’s fastest-growing consumer markets for diamonds, jewellery and coloured gemstones.
They join Pramod Agarwal, former GJEPC Chairman, who was re-elected as Vice President of the global body, while Vaishali Banerjee, Managing Director India of PGI, was also elected to the Board.
At the same General Assembly, Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri was re-elected unopposed as President, while Jonathan Kendall and Kenneth Scarratt were re-elected to the other two posts of Vice President. The Board has a total of 30 members.
CIBJO is the oldest global organisation in the world gem and jewellery industry and is acknowledged for its stellar role in helping standardise guidelines and nomenclature used by the gem and jewellery trade worldwide. The organisation publishes Blue Books and Retailer’s Guides for different industry verticals, drafted by members of its Trade Commissions who are experts in their fields. These are regularly updated at the World Congresses, which are held every few years.
Mehul Shah Calls for Greater Industry Collaboration
During the opening session of the Centennial Congress, Mehul Shah congratulated CIBJO on being recognised by the United Nations Economic and Social Council in 2006 as a technical expert and advisor, while encouraging stronger collaboration between CIBJO and diamond industry bodies such as WFDB and Bharat Diamond Bourse.
During the Congress deliberations, Mr Shah also strongly urged the body to adopt clear guidelines to differentiate gemstones produced in laboratories that may appear identical to natural gemstones.
Mehul Shah said:
“There is a need for greater clarity and transparency in communicating these differences to the consumers so that they understand that these are actually two different products and address different consumer bases,” he said.
India’s Diamond Market Continues to Grow
Participating in a panel discussion during a Congress session on the diamond industry, Mr Shah highlighted India’s strong domestic growth, noting that consumer demand was increasing about 10% year-on-year.
Mehul Shah said:
“India is now the second largest consumer market in the world,” he said, while endorsing the other panellists’ views that demand and prices were stabilising worldwide. The panel also urged the industry to boost its marketing activity.
India’s Representation on the CIBJO Board
Following the elections, Mehul Shah described India’s expanded representation as an important milestone for the country’s growing role in the international gem and jewellery sector.
Mehul Shah said:
“The election of a number of leaders from Indian trade bodies to the CIBJO Board is significant, because our country is both a leading manufacturer-exporter of diamonds, jewellery and coloured gemstones, as well as a rapidly growing consumer market for these products,” Mr Shah said soon after the election.
He pledged to strengthen the collaboration between the global diamond industry and CIBJO across the world and in India, and work for enhancing consumer confidence in the gem and jewellery industry.
The elections reinforce India’s expanding influence within global jewellery leadership at a time when international collaboration, industry standards and consumer confidence continue to shape the future of the gem and jewellery trade
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