Israel Bourse Strikes Deal with Alibaba

RAPAPORT… The Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) will launch a partnership
with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, enabling traders to sell goods online
to businesses and consumers in global markets.




Some 150 bourse members have formed an online store that
will sell diamonds on the retail site, IDE president Yoram Dvash said in an
interview with Rapaport News Wednesday. Starting February 6, the business — operating out of a room inside the
exchange in Ramat Gan, Israel — will sell to jewelers and dealers, before
extending the service to consumers after a few months.



“It’s a big jump for us,”
Dvash said. “You don’t need expansion or offices, or to fly over. You have
hundreds of millions of potential customers.”



Transactions on Alibaba’s
retail marketplaces totaled $547 billion in its last full fiscal year ending
March 2017, the company reported.



The deal is similar to an
arrangement the IDE has with online diamond retailer James Allen, under which
bourse members group together to supply goods for the e-commerce company to
sell.



Image: alibabagroup.com