PESHAWAR, Oct 1: A 3-day 12th Pakistan Gems and Minerals Show 2005 commenced here on Saturday at a local hotel. The show has been organized by Export Promotion Bureau, in collaboration with All Pakistan Commercial Exporters Association (APCEA). Stones from the NWFP including Fata and Northern Areas are being displayed. The areas contain full range of precious stones like, rubies lazuli, peridot, quartz, topaz, aquamarine, diopside, fluorite, gamets, spodumene, morganite, sapphire, spinels etc.

The first exhibition of this kind was held in Peshawar in the year 1994, since then it has assumed the status of a regular annual trade festival in Pakistan. The show has helped a lot to introduce Pakistan as a source market for precious/semi precious stones to a vast world of gem cutters, traders and fashion icons.

About 30 local gem companies are participating in the show to exhibit rare pieces of precious stones to make it a mutually beneficial marketing Gala, foreign buyers from India, France, USA, Italy, Brazil, Thailand, UK have indicated to join the show at Peshawar.

Northern Areas and Balochistan are the birth place and cradle of Pakistan’s gem industry. This is where desirable gems make their first step on the long journey to consumer markets world wise after they pass through the expert lapidary hubs in Karachi, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Germany.

The Export Promotion Bureau in collaboration with APCEA has established a Gem & Gemological Institute of Pakistan.

The institute is the only educational institute in Pakistan that conducts courses in gemology and gemstones cutting and polishing under the auspices of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) and All Pakistan Commercial Exporters Association (APCEA), so far more than 1,000 students in Gemology and in Lapidary (Faceting & Carving) courses have successfully completed their training.—Online