Gem and jewellery industry has a long way to go: Hashim

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam
Public Enterprises Development Minister Kabir Hashim recently stressed the need to urgently iron out the issues in the country’s gem and jewellery sector so that the economy can reap the benefits of its full potential.

According to Hashim, the industry that has been liberalized a number of occasions since 1979 has made little progress due to a number of issues.

“The gem and jewellery industry has a long way to go due to the issues faced from time to time and the government will have to address this. After so many years it has achieved only US $ 500 million exports. That is insufficient. 

“Compared to Ho`ng Kong’s industry that is now US $ 25 billion with no mining activity, we are nowhere close.

 This is the sad truth and we need to change the way we thing about this industry,” expressed the minister while addressing the opening ceremony of Facets 2017 in Colombo last week.

Frowning upon the manner in which the Gem and Jewellery Authority operates, he opined there needs to be “less controls and less bureaucratic involvement”.

“It needs to have a different identity and different regulatory role for the industry to work itself more freely,” he said referring to the agency.

The branding of Ceylon Sapphire was also highlighted. With mining activities restricted, it was pointed out that the lack of gem stones is hampering the branding activities of Ceylon Sapphire.  

“Without the stones we cannot market the local gem industry. We need to address this by taking into account the environmental impact,” said Hashim.

In a move to further liberalize the sector, the minister proposed to set up a special Gem and Jewellery Zone, which would allow the “necessary” freedom to import stones, recut and re-export.