- News>
Indian Diamond Merchants Dominate Antwerp Trade
Washington, May 28: About eighty per cent of polished diamonds sold worldwide now pass through Indian hands, and over 50 diamond traders, mostly from Gujarat, are established in Antwerp accounting for 65 percent of the city`s diamond revenue while ousting the Jews in the trade, a media report said here.
Washington, May 28: About eighty per cent of polished diamonds sold worldwide now pass through Indian hands, and over 50 diamond traders, mostly from Gujarat, are established in Antwerp accounting for 65 percent of the city's
diamond revenue while ousting the Jews in the trade, a media
report said here.
Not only do Indians account for 65 per cent of the US 26 billion-dollar-a-year in diamond revenues in Antwerp, but they are challenging Jewish dealers even in Tel Aviv, the Israeli capital, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The Indians now want a greater presence in Antwerp's high diamond council, the powerful body that regulates the Antwerp diamond industry, said the paper.
In February, two Indians for the first time were elected to the council's 20-member board of directors, but some Indians say it is not enoiugh.
"We makeup the bulk of Antwerp's diamond trade and yet have no voice on the most important bodies in town," says Bharat Shah, president of Diampex Diamonds.
Peter Meeus, the high diamond council's chairman, says he is working hard to change the institutional imbalance.
The journal also published a picture of Pankaj Nahata, an Indian diamond trader, with Noam Katz, a Jewish dealer, working side by side at the Windiam diamond selling house in Antwerp.
Bureau Report
Not only do Indians account for 65 per cent of the US 26 billion-dollar-a-year in diamond revenues in Antwerp, but they are challenging Jewish dealers even in Tel Aviv, the Israeli capital, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The Indians now want a greater presence in Antwerp's high diamond council, the powerful body that regulates the Antwerp diamond industry, said the paper.
In February, two Indians for the first time were elected to the council's 20-member board of directors, but some Indians say it is not enoiugh.
"We makeup the bulk of Antwerp's diamond trade and yet have no voice on the most important bodies in town," says Bharat Shah, president of Diampex Diamonds.
Peter Meeus, the high diamond council's chairman, says he is working hard to change the institutional imbalance.
The journal also published a picture of Pankaj Nahata, an Indian diamond trader, with Noam Katz, a Jewish dealer, working side by side at the Windiam diamond selling house in Antwerp.
Bureau Report