UAE Appoints Chair for Kimberley Process

Dubai, United Arab Emirates--The United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Economy has officially appointed Ahmed Bin Sulayem, who is the executive chairman of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority (DMCC), as the UAE’s chair for the Kimberley Process in 2016.

Ahmed Bin SulayemAfter some debate, the KP elected the UAE as its chair country for 2016 at its plenary meeting held back in November. As the chair country, the UAE is entitled to select one individual to lead its delegation as the chairman.

Sulayem takes over for Bernardo Campos, who served on behalf of Angola in 2015.

Among Sulayem’s stated goals for 2016 including assisting newly admitted countries and countries that want to join the KP with technical assistance, training and consensus building via seminars and conferences, and strengthening ties between government, diamond industry decision-makers and with the KP’s civil society.

The KP’s Civil Society Coalition has vowed to boycott the KP in 2016 over their objections to the appointment of UAE as chair. The 11 organizations that comprise the coalition contend that the UAE should not lead the KP because it is too lax in its controls when it comes to diamonds that come from conflict-stricken areas of the world. It also claims that companies based in the UAE participate in transfer pricing, the practice of undervaluing a resource to reduce tax liabilities and make more money.

For its part, the UAE has called the coalition’s claims about its activities “baseless and factually flawed,” and said upon its election as chair in November that it remains open to working with any civil society organization that wants to “fairly and transparently” participate in the KP.

Commenting on Sulayem’s appointment, UAE Ministry of Economy Under-Secretary Abdullah Al Saleh said, “The UAE is honored to have been elected KP chair by its fellow members. It was a practical and straightforward decision to appoint Ahmed Bin Sulayem as chair. He has led Dubai’s drive to become a global commodities hub for over a decade and has a deep understanding of the diamond industry.”

The KP now has a total of 54 participants representing 81 countries worldwide. The UAE has been a member of the KP since 2003, and was the first Arab country to join.