Kimberley Process (KP), an organization that focuses on prevention of ‘blood diamonds’ reaching the multi-billion market, has announced the blockchain initiative to prevent global trade of ‘conflict diamonds’.
According to thenational.ae, Ahmed bin Sulayem, the chairman of KP announced the move as a part of his midterm message accessing the company’s progress. Applying blockchain technology to the diamond business would establish a tamper-proof record of the provenance of diamonds.
"We have introduced the possibility of using blockchain technology to create a seamless and continued global process for the KP certification scheme," he said.
Sulayem has been working on a pilot project that that use the distributed technology to monitor the company’s statistics. He has previously had meetings with Dubai’s Blockchain Council. He has also led initiatives to bring some diamond producers like Venezuela and the Central African Republic, back into the diamond-trading community.
The highlights of the midterm report include key steps taken by Sulayem as the chairman of the company. Sulayem has previously held meetings in big diamond trading centres such as Antwerp and London. He also organized a special forum on the matter in Dubai.
"Only by visiting diamond-producing countries is it possible to fully appreciate the challenges affecting all those involved in the diamond production, from government regulators to hundreds of thousands of miners and their families whose livelihood depends on a transparent, accountable industry. This work will continue,” Sulayem said as reported by The National.
There will be an update delivered to the annual plenary meeting of the KP in Dubai in November. Sulayem also plans for another intense round of visits to diamond producers and traders this autumn.
