International Gem and Jewellery exhibition in Colombo
‘JEWELS – 2017′ – a Gem and Jewellery Exhibition, Competition and Jewels’ Talk, was held last week at Taj Colombo hotel.
The event was dominated by a 40-strong Chinese delegation along with Russian, German and Belgian delegates at this international gem and jewellery fair and exhibition. The event was held for the 10th consecutive year.
It was opened by Karunaratne Paranavithana, Deputy Minister of Skills Development and Vocational Training with Dr Kithsiri Dissanayake, Chairman, National Gem and Jewellery Authority (NGJA) and Dr. Navaratne Bandara, Chairman, National Gem and Jewellery Training Institute (NGJTI).
Mr. Paranavithana assured that he would work to start an insurance scheme for the gem miners as well as a pension scheme.
Udaya Senarath Yapa, President, Gemologists Association of Sri Lanka (GASL) on the sidelines of the event told the Business Times that one of the perennial setbacks in the gem industry has been that miners sell their stones in the raw rough form, without any value addition. Earlier the sale of gem stones in raw and rough form was around 50 per cent, but even though the percentage has now reduced to 10 per cent, it is a matter for concern, he asserted.
He said another major hindrance is that miners leave the large pits abandoned after mining which has caused many environmental problems including landslides. He said that once these abandoned pits are filled with rain water they tend to contribute to landslides.
He pointed out that Sri Lanka’s market share in the international market is getting reduced due to the fact that Sri Lanka’s landmass available for gem mining is shrinking compared to countries like Brazil, Kenya, Namibia and Tanzania. Some South African and South American countries have an abundance of land for mining and they mine mechanically, whereas in Sri Lanka it is not.
To prevent miners abandoning the pits after mining, he said that the NGJA has introduced licensing these pits in a bid to monitor and compel miners to refill the pits. Mr. Paranavithana said that it is not 100 per cent successful as there appears to be some corrupt officials.
He said that in a bid to educate the stakeholders of these dangers, they organise workshops and field trips to mining areas and they even take school children on these field trips so that everybody involved is educated on the issues.
He said that many things have improved like colour enhancement, polishing, cutting, etc. Due to the shortfall of gem mining as the landmass is limited in the country for mining, he said that they have requested the government to reduce the tax component in the import of rough gem stones as they could be re-exported after value addition.
He said that in that way they could have a good market internationally as these imported rough stones could be colour enhanced, cut and polished for re-export. To encourage achieving this end they held an competition under five categories, such as Fine Crystal of High Gemological Interest; Best Fashioned Gem (Facetted, Cabochon or Carved); Lapidary Art (Facetted or Carved); Gem Studded Professional Jewellery and Photographs related to Gemology or Gem Industry, he added.
On Sunday December 17, Richard Hughes, a world famous Gemologist delivered a talk on legendary gems like Rubies and Sapphires and also spoke on ‘Padparadscha Sapphire’ and other rare and popular gem varieties in the sapphire family.