VOA常速英语2007年-Indian Polishers Now Play Major Role in Antwerp

By Nina Maria Potts
Antwerp, The Netherlands
06 December 2007
 

The city of Antwerp has been home to a prosperous diamond industry for centuries. Traditionally, the fine craft of polishing belonged to the city's Jewish community. But the success of Indian firms in Antwerp, the availability of low cost labor¹ in Asia, and the decision by diamond-producing countries in Africa to develop their own industry are all changing the face of Antwerp's diamond trade. Nina-Maria Potts reports.

Antwerp's Diamond Bourse -- a place where your word, not a contract, clinches² the deal. Founded in 1904, its members include retailers³, manufacturers and brokers⁴ who must abide⁵ by a strict code of conduct.

Today, some 1,500 diamond firms are housed in three high-security, inter-connected streets. Antwerp diamond authorities say this is where 80 percent of the world's rough diamonds are bought and sold.

European Orthodox Jews once dominated the industry, but that is a thing of the past. The Antwerp World Diamond Center says Indians now make up two-thirds of Antwerp's $29 billion diamond trade and the Jewish share has dropped to about a quarter.

Philip Claes of the Antwerp World Diamond Center rejects suggestions the change is the source of community tensions. "In fact, everyone was very happy that the Indian traders were moving in, because it proved that Antwerp was important and they needed Antwerp."

As Indian traders moved in, Antwerp's polishing industry moved out -- to India and China. The Diamond Center says in the 1960s there were roughly 25,000 to 30,000, mainly Jewish polishers in Antwerp. Today, fewer than 1,000 polishers remain.

Some 30,000 Antwerp Jews died in the Holocaust⁶ during World War Two, but the trade eventually recovered. The craft was passed down from father to son, in a tradition that goes back to the 15th century.

Alain Majerczyk's company, SAFDICO, employs fewer polishers than it once did, but he says that with modern technology they are among the best in the world. "To make a study of the stone, you need really to simulate everything on computer before you touch a stone, and even then when you simulated everything on computer, you need a very skillful polisher, to make it a reality," he said.

Some diamond traders say the best skills and technology have already been outsourced.

But for Raj Mehta, of Rosy⁷ Blue, Antwerp offers something else -- a neutral environment where anybody can trade.

Mehta attributes the success of Indians in Antwerp to family tradition. "We, in the Indian culture, have the system traditionally that our children will join the father's business. I joined my father's business, and I hope that my son will also join my business. Which is not the fact in the Western or European culture at all."

In Antwerp's main diamond district, business appears to be thriving for both the Jewish and Indian communities. And traders are confident Antwerp's facilities, skills and technology can keep the world's best stones right here.

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 clinches   

n.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的名词复数 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议）v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的第三人称单数 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议）

参考例句：

• Pass argy-bargy one time, both sides clinches a deal with 6000 yuan. 经过一番讨价还价，双方以6000元成交。 来自互联网
• That clinches the argument. 那件事澄清了这项议论。 来自互联网

3 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

4 brokers   

n.（股票、外币等）经纪人( broker的名词复数 )；中间人；代理商；（订合同的）中人v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的第三人称单数 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• The firm in question was Alsbery & Co., whiskey brokers. 那家公司叫阿尔斯伯里公司，经销威士忌。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• From time to time a telephone would ring in the brokers' offices. 那两排经纪人房间里不时响着叮令的电话。 来自子夜部分

5 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

6 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

7 rosy   

adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
• She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。