Dubai Opens Revamped Diamond Bourse

RAPAPORT... The Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC) has unveiled aredesigned diamond exchange, featuring the world's largest diamond-tradingfloor and special windows that will enable it to hold ruby and sapphiretenders. The Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE), located in Almas Towers, nowhas 41 tables, fully secured with cameras, as well as special lighting thatallows buyers to examine diamonds and precious stones. New white-crystalwindows eliminate reflective light. DDE can host up to 200 buyers at once andhost multiple tenders simultaneously. "As we move forward, our priority remains to constantly modernizeour infrastructure, services and products so that DMCC remains one of thelargest and most influential diamond-trading hubs in the world," DMCC CEO AhmedBin Sulayem said Wednesday. "We are confident that housing the world's largestdiamond-tender facility will support us in this journey." The announcement comes amid this week's World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) presidents meeting and the Dubai Diamond Conference, which are both taking place in the emirate.  The DDE aims to be the world's biggest internationaldiamond-trading hub by 2023. It held 29 tenders in 2018, valued atapproximately $330 million, a 75% increase over the year before, it noted. Image: (from left to right) Maryan Al Hashemi, director of the Kimberley Process; Feryal Ahmadi,COO of DMCC; Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Sanjeev Dutta, director of financial services and commodities at DMCC, and Ahmad Hamza, executive director of the Free Zone at DMCC, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the revamped Dubai Diamond Exchange. (Dubai Multi Commodities Center)