Congo Leader Visits Antwerp
By Rob Bates, Senior Editor -- JCK-Jewelers Circular Keystone, 5/1/2004
Joseph Kabila, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), once at the center of the debate over "conflict diamonds," recently visited the Diamond High Council in Antwerp to observe the Kimberley Process in action. Antwerp officials noted that, as a result of the Kimberley Process, official exports from the former Belgian colony doubled, jumping from $300 million in 2002 to $658 million in 2003. Kabila was given a gold-plated loupe meant to symbolise the new transparency in the trade.
