ABOVE: Cutting the ribbon at the inauguration of the World Jewelry Hub booth at Expocomer 2015 on March 12, from left: Ali Pastorini, Marketing Director of World Jewelry Hub;  Diego Vallarino , Vice President of Grupo VerdeAzul, developer of the World Jewelry Hub; Nestor Gonzaléz, Panama’s Vice Minister of Commerce;  Eli Izhakoff , Chairman of World Jewelry Hub; Jose Luis Ford, President of the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama;  Alberto Vallarino, President of Grupo VerdeAzul; Carlos Fernández and Judy Meana, Vice President of the Panama Diamond Exchange. Photo courtesy of VVS UNO.

The 2015 edition of Expocomer, Panama’s leading trade exposition, opened its doors on Wednesday, March 11, at the Atlapa Convention Center. For the first time in its 23-year history of the event, it featured the World Jewelry Hub and Panama Diamond Exchange, both as exhibitors and as sponsors. The show was scheduled to run until Saturday, March 14.

The guest of honor on the opening day was Panama’s head of state, President Juan Carlos Varela, who was accompanied Vice President Isabel Saint Malo de Alvarado, and other government officials, including Nestor Gonzalez, Vice Minister of International Affairs. Joined by José Luis Ford, President of the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama, which organizes the expo, they were greeted at the WJH-PDE booth by Judy Meana, Vice President of Panama Diamond Exchange.

Expocomer 2015 features 600 exhibitors in 850 exhibition booths, representing 35 countries from the Americas, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Caribbean. Over the years, the show has directly contributed $750 million to the local economy, and has been the venue for $2.3 billion worth of transactions.

Each day of the show, WJH and PDE will introduce three of the diamond, gemstone and jewelry companies that are already operating in the Phase 1 building of the World Jewelry Hub, which opened at the start of the year.

Photographed outside the  World Jewelry Hub booth at Expocomer 2015, from left:  Erez Akerman, President of  the Panama Diamond Exchange;  Eli Izhakoff , Chairman of World Jewelry Hub; Daniel Yakubov, a Panama Diamond Exchange member; Diego Vallarino , Vice President of Grupo VerdeAzul, developer of the World Jewelry Hub;  Judy Meana, Vice President of the Panama Diamond Exchange; and Juan Manuel Henríquez, the World Jewelry Hub Project Director at Grupo VerdeAzul. Photo courtesy of VVS UNO.