admin“I have just been to the Far East, Dubai, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Beijing. We will be working with some of the biggest cutting and polishing companies in the world so they can set up factories in the country where Zimbabwe becomes a source of jewellery to the world market,” he said.
Ambassador Mutsvangwa said the MMCZ was also in talks with merchants in the United States to source the market for Zimbabwe’s gems.
“Andrew Young was here, we are engaging the Americans; they buy more than 37 percent of the world’s diamonds.
“We are inviting diamond merchants from America so that we sit (down) together and address the issues of transparency and regulation in the industry so that everybody can see how the diamond money is thrown into the coffers of the Zimbabwean Government,” he said.
Andrew Young, a former US ambassador to the United Nations, was in the country recently and said he was keen to see an improvement in relations between the two countries.
The global diamond industry has recently witnessed a shift in the centre of gravity from the traditional diamond centres such as Antwerp and New York to the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Britain and its allies in the EU and the United States imposed economic sanctions on Zimbabwe after the country embarked on a successful land reform programme.
Zimbabwe, which is currently the seventh largest producer of diamonds in the world, has potential to supply 25 percent of global demand and has also been tipped to become the third biggest producer by the end of this decade. — New Ziana.
Online Reporter