A Word from Antwerp

Fifty-two years ago, Brussels played host to the 1958 World Expo. For Belgium and for Europe it was a coming-out celebration, following the devastation of World War II and the long recovery period that followed. It also was an auspicious beginning for the developing European Economic Community, which was destined to grow into one of the world’s primary trading blocs.

 
On May 1, 2010, the six-month-long World Expo will open its doors; this time in Shanghai, China. Once again it will be an event of historical proportions, for it will represent so much more than the almost 200 national pavilions that are being built in this beautiful city. As Brussels did for post-war Europe in 1958, Shanghai in 2010 will mark China’s ascendency to the status of economic superpower.
 
China is home to a growing consumer base that sets the diamond industry’s heart racing. By 2020, it is forecast that its jewellery market will equal $38 billion per annum, making it the largest in the world.
 
In Antwerp we can confidently say that, as a diamond centre, we too are also a global power. Little wonder, therefore, as the Chinese diamond market develops and grows, so do the connections between our city and the Chinese diamond and jewellery trades.
 
Those connections will be on display at Shanghai World Expo. The 5,250-square-metre Belgium Pavilion will feature two glittering displays – one featuring the work of the winning laureates from the 2009 HRD Awards, and the other displaying 26 exceptional diamonds that were created from the 603-carats Lesotho Promise diamond, which wasauctioned in Antwerp in 2006 for $12.4 million and is ranked as the 15th largest diamond ever found.
 
Other Antwerp diamond-related features in the Belgian Pavilion include a display of the EEC tennis racquet trophy, which is set with 1,600 diamonds with a total weight of 150 carats.  Each week of the Expo an Antwerp-sourced diamond will be awarded to a lucky visitor, and on June 7, there will be a special Antwerp Diamond Day, as part of an Antwerp Week, with an opening speech by Antwerp Governor Cathy Berx.
 
We did not begin our work in Shanghai with the World Expo. We have a long and close relationship with the Shanghai Diamond Exchange, China's official diamond bourse. We extended that cooperation last year with the signing of an agreement for the development of relations to the benefit of the diamond sectors in both countries.
 
These are relationships that are essential to the continuing growth of both the Antwerp and the Chinese market, and we are already seeing benefits. Mainland China and Hong Kong together consume fully 25 percent of the polished diamonds exported from Antwerp each month, and that number is likely to grow. Antwerp’s polished diamond exports to China in 2009 equalled $250.8 million, and that was in addition to the $1.85 billion that was exported to Hong Kong, a major portion of which would eventually be sold in China.
 
For the diamond industry, China represents the new frontier. Consider this: more than half the young jewellery designers who reached the final round of the AWDC’s 2009 HRD Awards diamond jewellery design contest in 2009 were of Chinese origin. They represented an irresistible combination — Chinese youth and Antwerp-sourced diamonds. This definitely says something about the future.
 
 
Freddy J. Hanard, AWDC CEO