The federal government has decided to introduce a comprehensive five-year plan to regulate and expand Pakistan’s $450 billion precious stones market to bring billions of dollars’ worth of precious stones into formal trade channels.
Pakistan possesses precious stones valued at over $450 billion, including around 200 million carats of ruby and 70 million carats of emerald, along with other gemstones.
The plan will facilitate 610 exporters over five years by providing access to international exhibitions and global markets, while improving registration, compliance and traceability across the sector.
As part of the strategy, a central authority has been proposed to oversee business registration, provincial coordination and exporter facilitation. The authority will include federal and provincial representatives and will serve as the custodian of the national gemstone policy.
An office will also be established to ensure the safe return of unsold export consignments. Exporters will be provided with electronic payment gateway facilities to ease transactions and improve transparency.
To strengthen legal trade in precious stones, six dedicated working groups have already been formed. These groups will focus on banking and financial reforms, refunds for unsold goods, modernisation of mining practices and streamlined business registration.
Authorities said improved registration and traceability could generate more than 60 million dollars in value addition. All institutions involved will be required to submit quarterly implementation reports to the ministry under a national action plan.
However, outdated processing techniques are causing losses of up to 70 percent of gemstone value.