Word: businessmen
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...almost none of the world's diamonds. Most rough stones are mined in Angola, Botswana, Namibia and Russia, and then find their way to Antwerp, where ultra-orthodox Hasidic Jews form the nerve center of the international diamond trade. With contacts from Tel Aviv to New York City, Hasidic businessmen have controlled the polishing and selling of diamonds for generations?until, that is, the Indians began butting...
...says Biju Patnaik, a Bombay-based diamond-industry expert at Dutch bank ABN AMRO. The Palanpuris have also ventured over-seas, setting up small family-run polishing centers in Antwerp and Tel Aviv, and slowly elbowing into the U.S. as diamond sellers. In Manhattan's midtown diamond district, Palanpuri businessmen sitting beneath portraits of their saint, Mahavira, now run shops side by side with black-coated Hasidim from Brooklyn...
...ambition among the Palanpuris is for Surat to dethrone Antwerp as the world's center for the diamond trade. That will take some doing; Gujarat, the state in which Surat is located, suffered a blow to its international reputation because of anti-Muslim riots in 2002. Still, Surat's businessmen remain hopeful, and an international airport is being constructed to lure the world's businessmen to the city...
...Prominent Bangladeshi businessmen, who expect the security situation to deteriorate further and political agitation by the opposition to intensify, reckon there will be no significant investment in new factories for the next six to nine months. There could be worse ahead. Textiles account for 75% of Bangladesh's export value, but the start of 2005 will see the expiration of a special trade agreement that gives the country a guaranteed market for its garments in the U.S. Some experts fear that once the trade agreement ends, cheaper Chinese garments will eat away a large part of Bangladesh's export market...
...feeling of helplessness grows, some businessmen, recalling that extortion was less prevalent during the years of military rule, are nostalgic for the days when the army ran the country. Others are worried that a more serious threat than a military coup is the likelihood that Islamic fundamentalists, who captured only a minority of the vote in the general election, will take advantage of the rising sense of insecurity. "If [the BNP and the AL] fail to control lawlessness, then Islamists can present themselves as the only real alternative," warns Mubasshar Hussain, president of Bangladesh's Institute of Architects. Sari seller...