One of the last uncharted diamond territories, Latin American consists
of 20 countries and 23 well-inhabited islands, with an overall population of
650 million. The volume of business in the diamond and diamond jewelry sectors
currently stands at $7 billion. Its middle class consists of 200 million people,
which greatly contribute to the booming Latin American economies that are well
accustomed to buying fine jewelry, as opposed to the emerging middle classes in
India and China, which
are not yet mature.
All this sounded very attractive to Erez Akerman, the President of the Panama
Diamond Exchange (PDE). Akerman is a multi-national diamantaire who has lived
in the United States, Israel and for the past three years is a
resident of Panama.
Akerman describes Panama City
as a crime-free resort town with beach resorts, casinos and deluxe hotels. Business
wise, Panama’s port city of Colon is a Free Zone city
where there are no import or export taxes, so business is booming.
The idea to form a diamond exchange in Panama
came to Akerman and other diamantaires from neighboring countries like Brazil, Chile,
Costa Rica, and the Caribbean Islands three years ago. “Panama is
already a hub, a distribution country for all sorts of commercial activity and
travel. It made sense to turn it into a hub for the world diamond industry as
well.” The PDE was recently accepted as a member
of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB). Panama's
Vice President and Foreign Minister, Samuel Lewis Navarro, is currently
involved in talks regarding Panama’s
application for membership in the Kimberley Process. “The Panamanian government
is very supportive of the country’s new diamond exchange. It is aiding the PDE
in its talks with various governments regarding trade agreements,” says
Akerman. “The PDE, which is currently under construction in Panama City, will be declared a Free Zone and
will be exempt from import and export tax.”
The region offers about 12,000 fine jewelry stores, which is over half the
number of jewelry stores in the United
States, and the rising demand for diamond
jewelry is being felt by everybody. Akerman continues: “The new financial
district around the PDE will include 15-20 high-rise buildings. Our development
teams are traveling all over the world to learn all of the important elements
involved in the complex’s planning. That is one of the reasons that we are
visiting the Israel Diamond Exchange. It is the perfect role model for us.”
Akerman notes that Panama
is the ideal location for a world diamond industry hub. “Buyers from all over Latin
America will no longer have to face the hassle of acquiring visas
for the United States.
They can take a short flight to Panama,
spend the day and head for home.” He stresses that Accessibility is the name of
the game. Commercially we are talking about one huge market. Panama is the
ideal meeting place with excellent shipping possibilities. International
companies will find it easy to set up offices in Panama, but prior to that good use
can be made of the Internet. A good deal of sales logistics can and is already
being arranged via the web.
Akerman is very optimistic about the future. “I believe we will double the
trade in 4 to 5 years to $14 billion. We want to attract the right institutions
and services including gemological laboratories. We plan to create a database
of all of the jewelry stores in the entire region as well as 2 educational
centers. And we intend to develop a comprehensive website which will provide a
news service about the region which currently does not exist there.”