BAHRAIN WELCOMES DELEGATES TO CIBJO CONGRESS 2019

Manama, the capital of the Kingdom of Bahrain, will welcome delegates from around the world to the 2019 CIBJO Congress, which will take place November 18-20, with pre-congress meetings starting on November 16. The main venue and hotel for the event is the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay.

CIBJO Congresses serve as the official gathering place for the World Jewellery Confederation’s Assembly of Delegates, and also are the venue for the annual meetings of CIBJO’s sectoral commissions, where amendments can be introduced to the organisation’s definitive directories of international industry standards for diamonds, coloured stones, pearls, gem labs, precious metals, coral and responsible sourcing, known as the Blue Books. Congresses are also where the programme of the World Jewellery Confederation Education Foundation (WJCEF) and CIBJO’s ongoing cooperation with the United Nations is reported upon, and in particular its commitment to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The CIBJO Annual Congress will be organised by DANAT, the Bahrain Institute for Pearls and Gemstones, which is dedicated to developing the local and regional pearl and gemstone industry and operates one of the world’s most sophisticated laboratories in the field.

The CIBJO Congress 2019 will take place during the Jewellery Arabia consumer trade show at the Bahrain International Exhibition & Convention Centre, and congress delegates will be guests of the prestigious event.

Located on an archipelago in the Arabian Gulf, Bahrain is home to a pearling industry dating back to at least the 3rd century B.C., giving it claim to what is almost certainly the world’s longest unbroken fine jewellery tradition. The natural pearl oyster beds to the north of the island, as well as Bahrain’s advantageous position as a port city on the trade routes between east and west, led to its old capital of Muharraq becoming the centre of the world’s first pearl-dominated economy. Today, the country remains the world’s preeminent producer of natural pearls, and also is a jewellery centre in its own right, serving the markets of the region.