The International Diamond Board (IDB) was established last weekend to improve the civic affairs efforts of and the generic advertising campaign for the diamond industry. “The overarching mission of the IDB is to create and sustain strong consumer demand for diamonds worldwide through effective category marketing,” according to a statement distributed on behalf of IDB by Rio Tinto Diamonds and BHP Billiton.

IDB, which will be incorporated in the U.K., is the result of discussions by an industry working group initiated at the 2008 St. Petersburg Forum. The group’s steering committee consisted of representatives from the major diamond mining companies — De Beers, ALROSA, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Harry Winston. A wider range of industry representatives is said to have attended the meeting on Thursday that formalized the launch of IDB.

The group explained that participants in the operational group adopted a broad charter to examine the impending role of the organization and to determine how best it could be structured. It is currently in the process of recruiting a “high-caliber” chief executive officer (CEO) to lead the organization.

“Over the next 12 months the IDB will focus on building the organization and initiating its first category public relations and communication program,” according to the statement. Among IDB’s immediate tasks that are “critical” to its success is the securing of support from all parts of the diamond value chain, it added

Credit is give to RAPAPORT by www.DiamondTopics.com