China adds shine to Pakistani gems

ISLAMABAD－Pakistan enjoys an abundance of precious and semiprecious gemstones, thanks to its location at the junction of the Hindukush, Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges.

Aside from its reputation for high-quality rubies, the country also boasts emeralds and sapphires among dozens of other types of gemstones. The northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, the Gilgit-Baltistan area and southwest Balochistan are the richest resources of precious stones, according to the Gemstone and Jewelry Resources of Pakistan report, which was released by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources in 2017.

Shomaila Zobair, a gemologist at the state-owned Pakistan Gem and Jewelry Development Company, said that emeralds from the Swat area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are acknowledged as being among the world's best. However, trade in these gems has been held back by "poor flow in international markets", Zobair said.

Pakistan is claimed to have the fifth-largest deposits of gemstones in the world. However, despite the huge potential for the sector and an abundance of raw stock, the country has failed to achieve the fame enjoyed in international markets by Sri Lanka or Tanzania. The country is still not among the top 10 gem exporters in Asia.

Pakistan businessmen believe that antiquated methods of exploration and extraction, with the use of outdated equipment, are a key reason for Pakistan's laggard status.

Abdul Ghaffar, a Pershawa-based businessman, is licensed to extract gemstones from mines in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. "All of us extract gemstones by blasting inside the mines. Then we collect the pieces of broken rock, wash them to strain gemstones and take them to market," Ghaffar said.

"In using the blasting technique, we do not know what quality of stone we will get. Sometimes the whole stone gets broken from the inside and when it is later cut, there is nothing but broken pieces."

More than half of the precious stones are wasted as miners neither have the modern equipment needed nor the expertise. According to the Pakistani State Bank, capital investment in gem and jewelry sector is very low compared with the potential business revenues it can generate.

Exports of gemstones and jewelry from Pakistan are worth around $3.7 billion each year, statistics from the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan show. Gemologists believe this is peanuts compared with the sector's potential as more than 80 percent of the annual revenue comes from unprocessed gemstones.

Another factor that has crippled the development of the industry is that Pakistan lacks branding and marketing skills, insiders say.

But with the setting up of special economic zones under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC, Pakistan's gem and jewelry sector will get more opportunities in terms of technology transfer, they say.

Muhammad Muzammil Zia, a research fellow at the Islamabad-based Center of Excellence for the CPEC, said his office has received applications and letters of interest from a range of investors keen on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Rashakai Economic Zone and Balochistan's Bostan Economic Zone.

Moazzam Ghurki, senior vice-president of the Pakistan-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said more Chinese professionals should be invited to train Pakistani workers for the production of top quality jewelry.

Jewelry experts from a Guangzhou university recently visited the Infinity School Lahore to help the country in skills development by providing free training to aspirants in the gem and jewelry industry.

"We signed an MOU (memorandum of understanding) with the university under the supervision of the government of Sindh last year during a national exhibition in the provincial capital Karachi. Under the MOU, the Chinese university will provide technical training to people in different sectors," said a marketing and job placement officer in the Infinity School Lahore.

XINHUA