China offers Pakistan an avenue for jewellery exports

PCJCCI chief says Pakistan has fifth largest gemstone reserves

LAHORE: Being the largest global consumer market for gems and jewellery, China offers a vast opportunity to Pakistan for lifting its exports in this segment, remarked Pakistan-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI), President Zarak Khan.

He was speaking at a meeting of the PCJCCI Export Promotion Committee at the chamber on Thursday.

The PCJCCI president pointed out that Pakistan had the fifth largest gemstone reserves but unfortunately it was unable to benefit from its natural resources due to a lack of skills, technology, and knowledge for processing the precious stones.

Khan said Pakistan had potential reserves of 800,000 carats of ruby, 87,000 carats of emerald and 5 million carats of Peridot, which had remained unutilised due to the absence of appropriate cutting and polishing facilities in the country.

He was of the view that Pakistan’s pink topaz and Kashmir ruby were considered unique all over the world.

PCJCCI Senior Vice President Moazzam Ghurki suggested collaboration between Pakistan and China in a bid to acquire knowledge of the latest techniques for the cutting and polishing of gemstones.

He called for taking the National Productivity Organisation (NPO) onboard along with the Asian Productivity Organisation (APO). “Chinese professionals should be invited to train Pakistan’s labour force and mining engineers in manufacturing and designing state-of-the-art jewellery in this vital segment of the economy,” he said.

PCJCCI Secretary-General Salahuddin Hanif told the meeting that China began capturing the attention of the global jewellery industry in 1978 and with the passage of time, it had emerged into a rapidly growing consumer market. 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2019.

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