PESHAWAR
\nKnown as home to precious and semi-precious varieties of gemstone treasures, Pakistan is a unique country with abundance of its deposits including the world famous emerald, ruby and sapphire offering great opportunities for investors to earn substantial economic gains and contribute in the country\u2019s economic growth and development.
\nRanked as fifth among world countries having the largest latent gemstones reservoirs, the country\u2019s northwest and northern areas including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir and southeast of Balochistan are blessed with plenty of unexplored gemstone deposits mostly found in lofty mountains ranges of Hindukash, Himalya and Karakuram.
\nThe rare-earth minerals such as Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, Aquamarine, Topaz, Quartz, Zircon, Garnet, Turquoise, Peridot, Spinet, Tourmaline, Feldspar, Agate, Lapis Lazuli, Opal, Moonstone, Feldspar, Agate, Kunzite and many others varieties had made Pakistan a country rich of gemstone deposits.
\nEmerald of Swat, Topaz of Mardan, Peridot of Kohistan and Ruby of Azad Kashmir have been globally recognized as one of the best gemstones in the world due to its brilliance clarity, durability and glittering designs.
\nThe bordering areas of Pakistan with Afghanistan are naturally bestowed with huge gemstones\u2019 deposits having an easy access to Peshawar, making it a hub of gemstones trading besides drawing jewelers and mineral specimen collectors from across the region.
\nEstablished in 1980, Peshawar\u2019s Namak Mandi has turned as the epicenter of gemstones business in KP where wide range of varieties of gemstones including Aquamarine, Pargastie and Tourmaline of Chitral and Gilgit Baltistan attract investors and jewelry traders from Afghanistan, Central Asian Republics and GULF.
\nWadan Khan, a leading gems exporter, told APP that over 200,000 people were directly or indirectly associated with this profitable business in KP including nearly 50,000 in Peshawar, contributing in the country\u2019s economy.
\nHe said, \u201cGemstones were a very lucrative and cost-efficient business and any person with technical knowhow and Rs 500,000 investment can earn a profit of about Rs10,000 per carat from Emerald and Sapphire.\u201d
\n\u201cRuby is one of the beautiful and expensive Red Gem mostly found in Gilgit Baltistan\u2019s Hunza Valley and its per carat price ranges from Rs10,000 to Rs 500,000 depending on its crystal clarity, cutting and designs,\u201d he added.
\nWadan said sometimes these precious gemstones were either lost during blasting due to lack of modern equipments or their designs became out of shape due to use of sharp tools during search process at airports that needed to be avoided.
\nHe said, \u201cMostly the non-professional residents of mining areas are actually the ones who mine these jewels in a hazardous and traditional way, causing damage to this latent wealth and proper training to local miners would help avoid its loss during excavation.\u201d
\nWadan said, \u201cMajority of stone cutters and polishers of KP manually do stone faceting on archaic machines, and a lot of time was being consumed to bring inherent luster and desired symmetry of stones as per requirement of domestic and international investors.\u201d
\nThe potential of the gemstone industry of Pakistan is enormous when it comes to adding to the national economy. The country has a potential to export 800,000 carat of Ruby, 87,000 carat of Emerald and five million carat Peridot per year, according to statistical data of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP).
\nAccording to TDAP, the country\u2019s gems and jewelry exports had risen from USD 14.1 million in 2018 to UDS14.6 million in 2019 while more than 80 percent of the revenue comes from unprocessed and raw gemstones.
\nThe data further revealed that gemstones\u2019 exports has raised by 123.13 percent with an export value of Rs167 million, cotton and cloth exports was up by 50.1percent with an export value of Rs35.4 billion while carpet, rugs and mats exports was increased by 27 percent with an export value of Rs1.4 billion during November 2021 possible due to the Govt\u2019s prudent economic and trade policies.
\n\u201cThe economic value and profit of gemstones is beyond one\u2019s immigration. The APCEA had contributed about four million dollars through gemstones exports to national exchequer in 2020-21,\u201d said Mahar Muhammad, Secretary All Pakistan Commercial Exporters Association (APECA) while talking to the news agency.
\nIn-spite of rich gemstones reservoirs and availability of raw materials, he said this latent wealth was yet to be fully tapped due to use of primitive methods in exploration, archaic tools, unavailability of modern technology and appropriate expertise to workforce.
\nNaveed Masood, Director Gems and Gemological Institute of Pakistan (GGIP) Peshawar said that over 4,500 students and gemstones miners had been trained since establishment of the institute in 2001. He informed that professional six months training to another batch of 25 students and gemstone minors has been scheduled in March under PTI government \u2018Kamayab Jawan Program\u2019.
\nSabz Ali Khan, Director TADP Peshawar said that a draft act for establishment of Gems and Jewelry Authority (GJA) has been approved by the federal cabinet. He said the government has included gemstones in the first list of priority sectors in Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF 2020-2025) to bolster its exports.
\nHe said CPEC has created new opportunities for our traders and businessmen to promote their business beyond the borders. He said Peshawar was going to become a business hub for Pak-Afghan and Pak-CARs bilateral and transit trade.
\nJaved Kattak, Chief Executive KP Economic Zones Development and Management Company said that mines, minerals, gems and jewelry sectors was going to embrace more opportunities in terms of technology transfer and our exports would touch new heights after completion of CPEC projects.
\nGemstones City would be set up in Peshawar where all modern facilities including training to gemstone entrepreneurs, certification, polishing and cutting, use of machinery in exploration, marketing, packing as per international standards would be provided under one roof, he informed. The use of modern technologies for cutting and polishing of gemstones would be encouraged while full cover to the gemstone sector has been given in KP Mines and Mineral Policy, he concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PESHAWAR Known as home to precious and semi-precious varieties of gemstone treasures, Pakistan is a unique country with abundance of its deposits including the world famous emerald, ruby and sapphire offering great opportunities for investors to earn substantial economic gains and contribute in the country\u2019s economic growth and development. Ranked as fifth among world countries […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246811,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3772,4520,20],"class_list":{"0":"post-246776","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-economic-prosperity","9":"tag-gemstones-vital","10":"tag-pakistan"},"yoast_head":"\n