A range of speakers from all jewelry-related concerns will launch the congress of CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, in Vancouver, Canada, (July 24-27), which is celebrating its 80th anniversary.

Eli Izhakoff, chairman and CEO of the World Diamond Council, will speak about the organization’s work concerning the conflict diamond issue. In particular, Izhakoff will explain the Council’s work to counter the possible fallout from the Hollywood film The Blood Diamond, due to be released in the final quarter of the year.

Among the diamond producers, David Lamb, the Diamond Trading Company’s executive director of Worldwide Marketing, will be speaking, along with Sergei Ulin, vice president of Alrosa, and Keith Johnson chief executive officer of Rio Tinto’s Diamonds group.

The importance with which Canada takes the conference and the promotion of corporate governance and consumer confidence issues is seen in the fact that a representative of the country’s authorities will deliver a speech. In addition, Craig Wright, vice president and chief economist at the Royal Bank of Canada Financial Group, has also agreed to speak.

Former Italian foreign trade minister Adolfo Urso, now head of the Italian delegation to the World Trade Organization, will deliver a speech. He will be followed by Hanifa Mezoui, chief of the NGO Section at the United Nation’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs. From the NGOs, Ian Smillie, CEO of Partnership Africa-Canada, will give a speech.

Representing retail jewelers, Jon Bridge, Co-CEO and general counsel of Ben Bridge Jeweler, Inc., will speak, while Graham Nicholls, president of Point Lake Marketing Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of BHP Billiton Diamonds Inc., is also due to deliver a speech. Jacob Spronk, professor of Finance & Investment at Erasmus University in the Netherlands, will provide an interesting approach to the diamond jewelry trade.

JCK