London 19th January 2010 Thank you Nicky, thank you Gareth. May I also extend my welcome to you all, and offer my best wishes for the New Year to those I have not yet had the chance to speak to. Of course, it is not just a New Year that we are entering, but also a new decade which, it must be said, offers great promise for the diamond industry.
We stand on the brink of a new chapter for diamonds and it is for this reason that we must recognise the importance of the actions we take now and understand that what we do in the course of 2010 is likely to shape the future for several years to come.
So, as we head into a new decade I would like to spend a bit of time looking ahead, but before that I think it’s also worth thinking back to this time last year and seeing how far we have come. When we consider what we have achieved together over the last 12 months, I think we should all be immensely proud...
To read the full speech please click on the attachment below.