The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has formally started its chairmanship of the Kimberley Process (KP), a critical United Nations initiative to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the mainstream rough diamond market. Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and CEO of DMCC, has assumed the role of Chair of the Kimberley Process for a second time following UAE’s chairmanship in 2016.
Throughout 2024, Ahmed Bin Sulayem will guide the KP and the 85 countries represented through a ‘Year of Delivery’, seeing a number of crucial initiatives and work streams through to fruition. This includes the permanent secretariat, which was initially proposed by the UAE in 2016, becoming fully operational in Botswana.
The completion of the review and reform cycle, led by Angola; and overseeing the future-proofing of the KP and its operational structure, including transforming the existing paper-based KP certificates onto the blockchain to eliminate forgery and counterfeits.
During the 2023 plenary session hosted by the outgoing chair, Zimbabwe, Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, DMCC, said: “Our work in the Kimberley Process holds greater significance than ever before. It affects millions of stakeholders, and it is our collective responsibility to contribute to the stability and prosperity of the economies that depend on us year after year.
As such, my focus as KP Chair will be very clear: to solidify the KP’s ability to operate autonomously and with greater efficiency. I look forward to leading the Kimberley Process into a new era of action – a year of delivery.”
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