ABOVE: Representatives of Ecuador’s jewelry trade, attending the B2B networking event at the Hilton Colon Guayaquil on July 14, where they met with the members of the PDE delegation.

Jaime Nebot (second from left), Mayor of Guayaquil, hosting the heads of the PDE delegation in Ecuador. He is flanked (from left) by Judy Meana, PDE Vice President; Sharon Schwartz, WJH Director of Sales; and Alvaro Vasquez,  Consul of Panama to Guayaquil.

The third stop on the South America tour for the Panama Diamond Exchange roadshow was Guayaquil, the largest city and financial center of the Republic of Ecuador. The trip, which included a delegation of PDE members with offices in the World Jewelry Hub, took place July 13 to 15, and was led by Judy Meana, PDE Vice President, and Sharon Schwartz, WJH Director of Sales.

The visit to Ecuador is part of the World Jewelry Hub’s two-pronged outreach program in Latin America, which includes periodic diamond and jewelry weeks, which bring buyers to the World Jewelry Hub in Panama City, as well as roadshows taking PDE members directly into the region’s most important jewelry markets.

Some 40 representatives of leading Ecuadorian jewelry companies attended a B2B networking session on July 14 at the Hilton Colon Guayaquil, where they met and discussed business opportunities with the PDE members, and were presented an overview of World Jewelry Hub project by Ms. Meana. The event was attended and addressed by Alvaro Vasquez, the Consul of Panama to Guayaquil.

The visit of the PDE delegation to Ecuador aroused a good deal of media and official interest, with Ms. Meana and Ms. Schwartz invited for a personal meeting with Guayaquil Mayor Jaime Nebot, where they were joined by City Councilor Gino Molinari. Newspaper and television coverage was extensive, and it emphasized the contribution is likely to be made to the Ecuadorian jewelry sector by Latin America’s first dedicated gemstone and jewelry trading center in Panama City.

“Ecuador is a country in which we see great promise,” said Ms. Meana. “It is the ninth largest economy in Latin America, after Mexico, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Venezuela and Cuba, and it has grown steadily since 2010, having escaped almost entirely the global recession. We are looking forward to greeting the members of its jewelry trade when they visit us next in Panama.”