Despite $1b in exports, gems and jewellery sector fending for itself
Industry bemoans lack of govt interest in creating enabling environment.
The sector has registered impressive growth, but gem exports are still too low if compared to jewellery exports. PHOTO: PPI
KARACHI:
Pakistan is one of the few countries in the world that holds abundant resources of precious and semi-precious stones. Now that exports of gems and jewellery have crossed the billion dollar mark, stakeholders expect some government interest in a sector which has so far failed to achieve any significant support from successive governments.
Small traders, dealers and artisans are unanimous in saying that unless the government provides financing opportunities to budding entrepreneurs, the industry’s exports will not show strong growth going ahead.
Combined gems and jewellery exports hit the significant $1.1 billion mark in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, up 91% from $580 million in the same period last year. The sector has registered impressive growth, but gem exports are still too low if compared to jewellery exports, especially if seen in the context of the inherent potential in the segment. Gems exports alone account for just $3.1 million of export earnings, even after an impressive 19% growth in the last nine months, if compared to the same period last year.
“Gems exports are indeed too low, but one of the biggest reasons behind that is that, in Pakistan, gems used in exportable studded jewellery are not counted in the export of gems,” Pakistan Gems and Jewellery Development Company (PGJDC) Chief Executive Bakhtiar Khan told The Express Tribune in a recent interview.
“Pakistan has some of the best precious and semi-precious stones, which give us the raw material for studded jewellery – one of the various kinds of jewellery where Pakistan performs well in the international market,” Khan explained.
However, despite these encouraging factors, the public and private sectors are convinced that the overall situation is not at all satisfactory.
“Gems and jewellery is a relatively smaller sector that has no representation in policymaking circles, because of which no one cares,” a Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) official told The Express Tribune. Within the sector, the gems segment is unorganised and still uses traditional methods in the mining and finishing of stones. On top of these problems, the sector does not employ a powerful lobby to back it up and gain concessions from the government, like the textiles and other sectors, the TDAP official added.
Iftikhar Hussain, general manager of Khushal International, a growing company based in Gilgit-Baltistan, told The Express Tribune that the gems sector in Gilgit-Baltistan has all the potential to become the biggest industry in the rugged mountainous regions of the north.
“I have provided stone cutting and polishing machines to many women who work for me from their homes in Gilgit-Baltistan, but I do not have the money to buy more,” said Hussain.
The sector can be developed into a full-fledged cottage industry, but lack of financing opportunity is the biggest hurdle in the growth of the gems industry in Gilgit-Baltistan. Locals are disappointed with the concerned government authorities because of the lack of any significant development in the gems sector, he added.
Pakistan has also not been able to create an enabling environment for the gems and jewellery industry in Balochistan – a resource-rich province marred by insurgency, ethnic conflicts and sectarian violence for decades.
Mohammad Ibrahim Langou, proprietor of Baluchistan Gems and Jewellery and Handicraft, said that miners and traders in Balochistan know of huge reserves of undiscovered blue granite and other stones that are in high demand in international markets, but do not have access to needed resources for mining purposes.
Most traders sell precious and semi-precious stones in Peshawar at negligible prices to intermediaries, who sell them in international markets and earn hefty profits, said Langou, who frequently travels between Quetta and Peshawar – arguably the biggest markets for gems in the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 15th, 2013.
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Pakistan is one of the few countries in the world that holds abundant resources of precious and semi-precious stones. Now that exports of gems and jewellery have crossed the billion dollar mark, stakeholders expect some government interest in a sector which has so far failed to achieve any significant support from successive governments.
Small traders, dealers and artisans are unanimous in saying that unless the government provides financing opportunities to budding entrepreneurs, the industry’s exports will not show strong growth going ahead.
Combined gems and jewellery exports hit the significant $1.1 billion mark in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, up 91% from $580 million in the same period last year. The sector has registered impressive growth, but gem exports are still too low if compared to jewellery exports, especially if seen in the context of the inherent potential in the segment. Gems exports alone account for just $3.1 million of export earnings, even after an impressive 19% growth in the last nine months, if compared to the same period last year.
“Gems exports are indeed too low, but one of the biggest reasons behind that is that, in Pakistan, gems used in exportable studded jewellery are not counted in the export of gems,” Pakistan Gems and Jewellery Development Company (PGJDC) Chief Executive Bakhtiar Khan told The Express Tribune in a recent interview.
“Pakistan has some of the best precious and semi-precious stones, which give us the raw material for studded jewellery – one of the various kinds of jewellery where Pakistan performs well in the international market,” Khan explained.
However, despite these encouraging factors, the public and private sectors are convinced that the overall situation is not at all satisfactory.
“Gems and jewellery is a relatively smaller sector that has no representation in policymaking circles, because of which no one cares,” a Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) official told The Express Tribune. Within the sector, the gems segment is unorganised and still uses traditional methods in the mining and finishing of stones. On top of these problems, the sector does not employ a powerful lobby to back it up and gain concessions from the government, like the textiles and other sectors, the TDAP official added.
Iftikhar Hussain, general manager of Khushal International, a growing company based in Gilgit-Baltistan, told The Express Tribune that the gems sector in Gilgit-Baltistan has all the potential to become the biggest industry in the rugged mountainous regions of the north.
“I have provided stone cutting and polishing machines to many women who work for me from their homes in Gilgit-Baltistan, but I do not have the money to buy more,” said Hussain.
The sector can be developed into a full-fledged cottage industry, but lack of financing opportunity is the biggest hurdle in the growth of the gems industry in Gilgit-Baltistan. Locals are disappointed with the concerned government authorities because of the lack of any significant development in the gems sector, he added.
Pakistan has also not been able to create an enabling environment for the gems and jewellery industry in Balochistan – a resource-rich province marred by insurgency, ethnic conflicts and sectarian violence for decades.
Mohammad Ibrahim Langou, proprietor of Baluchistan Gems and Jewellery and Handicraft, said that miners and traders in Balochistan know of huge reserves of undiscovered blue granite and other stones that are in high demand in international markets, but do not have access to needed resources for mining purposes.
Most traders sell precious and semi-precious stones in Peshawar at negligible prices to intermediaries, who sell them in international markets and earn hefty profits, said Langou, who frequently travels between Quetta and Peshawar – arguably the biggest markets for gems in the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 15th, 2013.
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