Pakistan’s gems and jewels exporters drool over CPEC

[Shahzaz ud din]

Pakistan’s gems and jewels exporters drool over CPEC
By Usman Hanif
Published: October 22, 2017
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Gems and Stones. PHOTO: REUTERS

KARACHI: Pakistani jewellers are planning to take advantage of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to give the dwindling industry a boost.

The All Pakistani Gems Merchants and Jewellers Association (APJMJA) has set up a committee to study and devise a detailed plan as to how the country’s gem and jewellery exports can be increased by taking advantage of CPEC.

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Pakistan’s gemstone and jewellery sector is currently suffering due to low exports, undergoing a massive fall in the last five years. In 2016-17, the exports of the industry stood at $5.8 million, down 99% compared with $921.8 million in 2011-12.

Like other industries in Pakistan, this industry can also take advantage of CPEC, say officials.

“With the help of Chinese investment and machinery, we can increase our gemstone and jewellery exports to $5 billion in just 3 years,” said APJMJA Chairman Matiullah Sheikh. “Pakistan has the finest craftsmanship and China has technology. Together, we can promote exports of the industry,” he said.

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There are close to 22,000 outlets and 18,000 workshops of gemstone merchants and jewellers across Pakistan. The sector is planning to propose the government to make gems and jewellery industrial zones, training centres and display centres along CPEC routes to lure the market.

The private sector is going to hold a meeting with officials of the Trade and Development Authority of Pakistan on October 24 to discuss further details. The APJMJA has 200 members but only 12 to 15 are active in export gems and jewellery to international market.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22nd, 2017.

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Read more: All Pakistani Gems Merchants and Jewellers Association , CPEC , Jewels

 

[Hyde]

from 921 million USD to just $5.8 million is a shocking news

 

[SoulSpokesman]

Why do you need CPEC for gemstone and jewellery? I can understand steel, coal- but diamonds?

Regards

 

[ghauri05]

Why do you need CPEC for gemstone and jewellery? I can understand steel, coal- but diamonds?
Regards

I think Pak has failed to industrialize these gems business...What we need is proper machinery to extract them n polish or whatever process is required afterwards. And sell them in international market as Pak product.

I am saying this bcoz a few years back, i saw a report on these gems extracted from kpk,the tools used were very basic. and most of the gems were sold to Brunei as raw material and it, then after processing it sold them in international market as their own product.

 

[SoulSpokesman]

@ghauri05

Ghauri sb,

Thats quite a shocker, sir. It should be perfectly feasible to set up 100s of workshops in relatively low wage parts of Pakistan such as Sind and Southern Punjab where labour costs are a fraction of cost in SE Asia. With not large capital outlays and with some investment in training, millions of workers can be employed in such factories/workshops for cutting and polishing gemstone. It is not even essential that you need to produce gems locally - they could even be imported, processed and exported.

Regards

 

[GeraltofRivia]

“With the help of Chinese investment and machinery, we can increase our gemstone and jewellery exports to $5 billion in just 3 years,” said APJMJA Chairman Matiullah Sheikh. “Pakistan has the finest craftsmanship and China has technology. Together, we can promote exports of the industry,”

It looks like that lack of machinery is the main obsolete that prevents Pakistan gem industry to proposer. I hope that the new investment will help address the issue and extract the full potential of the industry.

 

[xyxmt]

I think Pak has failed to industrialize these gems business...What we need is proper machinery to extract them n polish or whatever process is required afterwards. And sell them in international market as Pak product.

I am saying this bcoz a few years back, i saw a report on these gems extracted from kpk,the tools used were very basic. and most of the gems were sold to Brunei as raw material and it, then after processing it sold them in international market as their own product.

Like everything else, in past 15 to 20 years, laziness and greed creeped in the every section of PAkistani society.

 

[ghauri05]

@ghauri05

Ghauri sb,

Thats quite a shocker, sir. It should be perfectly feasible to set up 100s of workshops in relatively low wage parts of Pakistan such as Sind and Southern Punjab where labour costs are a fraction of cost in SE Asia. With not large capital outlays and with some investment in training, millions of workers can be employed in such factories/workshops for cutting and polishing gemstone. It is not even essential that you need to produce gems locally - they could even be imported, processed and exported.

Regards

That's what Brunei is doing...and our leaders especially leaders of KPk both representatives of ANP and PTI have seriously ignored the revenue generation sources of KPK.

I tell you one more thing..in the very same report I am referring to ,it also talked about the other source of income for KPK..that is dry fruits. According to it, people in KPK used to sell them to indians and used to sell them in foreign countries, again by processing and packing them in an appropriate manner

Pak sell dates to germany as a raw material and germany sells it back after processing and beautiful packing to Pak.

KPK is rich in dry fruits. We can make a handsome profit by selling them in international market using international standards.Now how difficult it is to set up ,a packaging factory??? But our leaders are sleeping and whenever they are awake they are busy only in corruption. That is the level of mismanagement and criminal negligence in Pak by these so called political leaders of ours.