Announced earlier [the week of July 25] by the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, the news comes just as GIA prepares to close its Antwerp facility.
The Gemological Institute of America is slated to open a new laboratory in Dubai in mid-2023, leasing two floors of space in a new 79-floor skyscraper.
The announcement, made earlier [the week of July 25] by the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, comes just as GIA closes its lab in Antwerp citing lack of demand and as Dubai looks to further cement its position as a leading hub for both rough and polished diamonds.
GIA previously had a take-in facility and offered education in Dubai through GIA India Laboratory Pvt. Ltd. but closed those operations at the end of 2019.
GIA will operate its new Dubai lab through subsidiary GIA Laboratory DMCC.
According to DMCC, the new GIA lab in Dubai will occupy more than 41,000 square feet across two floors of the Uptown Tower, a 1,115-foot-high structure that’s a mix of offices, residential, retail and hotel space.
It has signed a nine-year lease in the building.
The lab’s custom design will “create new efficiencies” in GIA’s laboratory processes and services, DMCC said, and will use the latest technology, including advanced GIA instrumentation.
The opening of the lab is expected to create as many as 500 new jobs in Dubai.
“The growing importance of Dubai as a diamond center and its outstanding infrastructure make the DMCC an excellent choice for a significant expansion of GIA’s capacity,” Tom Moses, GIA executive vice president and chief laboratory and research officer, said in DMCC’s announcement of the lease.
“Dubai’s close proximity to the important diamond manufacturing and producing centers, in addition to efficient transportation links to global diamond markets, will help support our clients and, very importantly, extend our important consumer protection mission.”
Photo © Besix, DR.
