Dubai: De Beers and ALROSA will take part in a Kimberley Process (KP) forum this month on rough diamond valuation aimed at reaching a consensus on universal pricing.

The event, hosted May 23 by the KP and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), will bring together companies, nations and non-profits. The organizers expect to encourage a discussion on and improve understanding of rough valuation, the office of the KP chair said.

“If we can come to a set of best practice principles on valuation which could contribute to better living conditions of the many people that make living from diamonds around the globe, we accomplished something significant,” said Ahmed Bin Sulayem, the United Arab Emirates-based chair of the KP for 2016.

An industry-wide commitment, including best-practice principles and allowing a “level playing field” for import and export centers, would be “the most significant transformational change the KP has experienced within the last ten years.”

Joining miners De Beers and ALROSA at the forum will be representatives from RBS Capital Markets and nations including South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. It will coincide with the start of the Kimberley Process Intersessional in Dubai.