Pakistan sees prospects of exporting precious stones to China

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani traders believe that the export of precious stones and jewelry from gem-rich Pakistan to China will help the country in revenue generation.

Addressing the Export Promotion Committee of Pakistan China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI), the chamber's President Zarak Khan said that China is the world's largest consumer of gems and jewelry and Pakistan being the fifth largest country of gemstones reservoirs in the world can tap the potential of the Chinese market.

Apart from having an abundance of gemstones, Pakistan also has some unique stones in the world including Pink Topaz and Kashmir Ruby which are famous for their unique color and beauty in the international market. Pink Topaz is also considered one of the highest valued minerals in the world.

The country has potential to exploit and export 800,000 carats of Ruby, 87,000 carats of Emerald and 5 million carats of Peridot, but the yield is much lower, due to lack of skills, technology, and knowledge for processing of the mining materials, reports Gwadar Pro media network quoting the chamber official.

The country also could not carry out value-added services to the processed stones due to lack of appropriate cutting and polishing facilities, and PCJCCI officials believed that collaboration with China to learn the latest techniques for cutting and polishing of the gemstones may be greatly beneficial for Pakistan to uplift the sector.

They suggested that Chinese professionals in this sector should be invited to train Pakistani labor force and mining engineers for cutting, manufacturing and designing state of the art jewelry.