ABOVE: Mahesh Khemlani (left), President of the Panama Diamond Exchange, and Ali Pastorini, PDE’s Senior Vice President.

Mahesh Khemlani, President of the Panama Diamond Exchange, and Ali Pastorini, PDE’s Senior Vice President, will visit the Near and Middle East in May, as part of the bourse’s international outreach program, which is aimed at building ties between Latin American gemstone and jewelry traders operating at the World Jewelry Hub in Panama City and members of the global trade.

Ms. Pastorini will visit Istanbul, Turkey, on May 11 and May 12, where she will meet with Turkish industry leaders and representatives of the local industry. She is being hosted in the city by the Istanbul Chamber of Jewelry (IKO).

She will then continue on to Dubai, UAE, where she will be joined by Mr. Khemlani, from May 14 to 19. There they are scheduled to meet with companies headquartered in the Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC) that are interested in expanding their involvement in the Latin American markets. They also will attend the congress of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB), which will take place in the city from May 16 to 19.

“There are definite parallels between the trading centers in Dubai, Istanbul and Panama City, all of which are springboards into regional markets with massive growth potential,” said Mr Khemlani. “There are synergies that we plan on promoting during our meetings, linking suppliers and buyers interested in developing commercial relationships with both large companies as well as with individual traders in Latin America.”

“This is not simply an exploratory mission,” said Ms. Pastorini. “We have been developing our business connections with the Turkish and Dubai centers for many months already, and have a received great deal of positive feedback. Both Turkish Airlines and Emirates are now launching regular air services to Panama, facilitating the easy movement of people, goods and services between our countries.”

PDE’s outreach program, which was initiated together with the World Jewelry Hub early last year, is a two-pronged strategy that simultaneously promotes the Panamanian gemstone and jewelry center as the primary trading platform in Latin America, and at the same builds bridges between Panama and members of the trade in other parts of the world.

For any person interested in meeting with Mr. Khemlani and/or Ms. Pastorini during their forthcoming trips, please email Ms. Pastorini at .