The results of the elections have been made public this morning.
In Category 3, Nilang Mehta and Joshi Mukund have been elected. We extend our congratulations to both of them.
After four years of struggling, the new system of representation that allows all Antwerp diamond companies to participate and elect directly their representative has thus started. Those who interpret it as a failure of the BVGD because some of our directors have not been elected completely miss the point. It is on the contrary a victory for Antwerp, thanks in large part to the groundwork of the BVGD. We have long said that without democracy and representation there can be no legitimacy for any organization.
We spoke with the new candidates and believe they are qualified and able, and will be good representatives for Antwerp.
We do regret that the IBDA made an ‘ethnic’ campaign, appealing to Indian voters to “vote for our candidates,” without having a clear program. We hope this is only a reaction after the many years of frustration for not allowing IBDA to be the 14th member of the HRD which BVGD strongly advocated and supported.
We are pleased with the strong showing of Andre Gumuchdjian and Ziv Knoll, from BVGD who garnered respectively the 3rd and 4th place. Their score underlines the large support of the Antwerp trade for our directors. The fact that they were not elected is due to the excellent organization and discipline from the Indian community and the unfortunate multitude of non-Indian candidates.
We do hope that in the future, Indians will be part of mainstream groups or perhaps new ones, so that voters in category 3 can concentrate on economic issues aside from all else.
The category 3 voters employ the largest number of people and guarantee the functioning of a vibrant and dynamic market.
In category 2, we do have strong objections about the elected candidates, as one of them is also part owner-director of the 4th largest company in Antwerp and thus clearly belongs in category 1. It is important to correct this issue, as we had all agreed to a representation of 2 candidates in each category according to turnover.
We hope that the following issues will be tackled soon:
We hope that the word ‘Antwerp’ will be incorporated in the new name of the organization such as Antwerp Diamond Council. This will be a tremendous boost to all of us working here.
We believe in a liberal economy and the positive role of a free, fair, open and competitive market. It is time to facilitate business conditions in order to allow the Antwerp diamond traders to maximize their profits. That is the sole way to create wealth and growth for Antwerp.
We do wish the new Board of Directors, speed and efficiency so as to uphold and defend Antwerp as the World Diamond Centre.
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