CIBJO sets sights on growth with task force

Posted May 28, 2012 |

The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) will establish a Strategic Task Force in an effort to expand its operations and work closer with international organisations.

CIBJO’s board of directors unanimously approved a proposal to establish a Strategic Task Force at a Congress meeting in Vicenza, Italy, last week.

To be chaired by Eli Avidar, a member of the CIBJO President's Council and the CEO of the Israel Diamond Institute, the task force will aim to increase industry membership worldwide, as well as increase its financial base.

The Task Force will also have a mandate to expand CIBJO’s diplomatic partnerships with national and international organisations. CIBJO already keeps a close relationship with the United Nations.

"With this Task Force, CIBJO will now reach out to new industry participants and demonstrate to members and stakeholders that we stand together, united and committed," Avidar said in a statement.

"Members of our industry are sometimes faced with major changes in regulations in their own countries. They are required to challenge the authorities, but they need not do so alone,” Avidar added. “They will be able to rely upon the broad support of the international jewellery community, under the banner of CIBJO."

CIBJO President Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri believed Avidar was the right man to chair the task force because of his background and established personal networks.

“As a seasoned diplomat, Eli Avidar will be able to bring to CIBJO his considerable experience and contacts in the international diplomatic arena,” Cavalieri said.

Avidar called on CIBJO members to provide names of potential members, both national associations and commercial bodies, for the Strategic Task Force to approach in a membership drive.

"We need to look ahead, as an organisation that is larger, more diverse and reflective of this great industry. The future belongs to all of us, and so does the responsibility to grasp that future," he said.

With members from more than 40 countries, CIBJO is an international body that represents the interests of national jewellery and gemstone organisations and commercial bodies operating within the jewellery chain of distribution. The Jewellers Association of Australia and Jewellers & Watchmakers of New Zealand are the representative bodies for the region.

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