RAPAPORT… The International Training Centre on Corporate Opportunities (ITCCO) — a training center for corporate social responsibility (CSR) — was officially opened in Antwerp on May 23, 2011. The center, which will provide training to the global diamond and jewelry trade on running ethical businesses, will organize courses and issue training certificates under the auspices of the United Nations Institute for Training And Research (UNITAR), a division of the UN. Located in the Rodenborch House, an historic Antwerp building, ITCCO is cosponsored by CIBJO, the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), the Diamond Industry Trust, a Belgium-based foundation promoting socioeconomic security, the City of Antwerp and the Flemish Government.
CSR Connection
Antwerp competed against Milan and Tel Aviv to attract the international training center. George Brys, general manager of HRD Antwerp, explained that Antwerp’s efforts to take a leading role in promoting CSR began after CIBJO received its status of nongovernmental organization (NGO) with the UN in 2006.“They came to us and asked us whether we’d be interested in hosting an executive symposium on Corporate Social Responsibility, which would be organized by CIBJO, and sponsored by HRD Antwerp. We agreed. The symposium, held in Antwerp June 20 to 22, 2011, proved the need for an institute to train people active in the diamond and jewelry business in CSR. The fact is that big companies can afford to hire CSR coaches, so giving smaller companies access to such information will be a great help.”
Jocelyn Fenard of UNITAR confirmed that the symposium in Antwerp was the impetus for the center. “This event was an opportunity to initiate discussions with the industry and local, provincial and regional authorities on how to promote, through training, UN goals and principles, and to invite the diamond and jewelry industry to increase the pace of integration of those goals and principles into their sustainability and CSR strategies and policies, and thus into their business operations.”
Fenard noted that “Both the public institutions in Antwerp and Flanders and the diamond industry at that symposium expressed their willingness, seriousness and interest in becoming a center of excellence on those issues on a global scale. Although the center will be based in Antwerp and activities will be conducted and organized in Antwerp, the aim of ITCCO is to serve the entire worldwide diamond industry.”
A Pilot for Training
“We’re very proud that this is the very first sector project for CSR training,” Brys said. He noted that “setting up ITCCO in Antwerp rather than in any other diamond or jewelry center is a fantastic recognition of our will to be at the cutting edge of all aspects of our business. Not only will the Antwerp ITCCO be used to promote CSR for the diamond and jewelry industry, but also eventually for the harbor and the petrochemical industries. Don’t forget that Antwerp is the world’s second biggest petrochemical site after Houston.”
Promoting the Standard
Iris Van der Veken, chair of Global Compact Network Belgium and global manager of corporate affairs for Rosy Blue, said, “There is a true business case to integrate sustainability within your operations, but people have to learn and understand how they can do this. Today we have a standard. The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) has over 300 companies across the jewelry spectrum, from mining to retail, who are members. We have to move forward now in implementing this standard across our industry. Training and awareness is essential to promote these important sustainability practices. This center can play a key role in knowledge sharing. Different industries can learn from each other in the areas of human rights, labor, environment, product integrity and manufacturing… . The fact that all important players have worked closely together to bring this international institution to Antwerp shows that collective action can really make a difference.”
Brys concluded that “CSR is something that will have a great part in doing business in the future. We don’t have a choice. The importance of having ITCCO in Antwerp is a major way of creating awareness of that to the sector. Let’s just take the example of the German consumer magazine Stiftung Warentest, which already ranks companies on CSR. Germany is a little bit ahead of us on this issue, but we’ll get there. The fact is that any breach in CSR will have more and more dramatic consequences on a company’s viability. That’s where we’re going, and it’s not going to be possible to avoid it.”
The Marketplace
Polished
- Everything is sellable — at a price. Demand has reached a level not seen
in 30 years. - Diamond prices are increasing, in part because the value of the dollar is declining. As a result, the value of diamonds — which is expressed in
dollars — is growing fast.
Rough
- There is some temptation to hold onto goods that are continuing to increase in value. But prices are expected to plateau in an effort to retain the market confidence that has returned since the economic crisis.
