Ministry to establish state-of-the-art gemstone centre at Islamabad

According to Business Recorder, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Industries and Production Haroon Akhtar Khan said the ministry has resolved to create a modern gemstone centre in Islamabad. The plan was discussed at a high-level meeting chaired on Friday. The meeting was attended by the Prime Minister's Coordinator Rana Ihsan Afzal, Additional Secretary Humaira Zia Mufti and Joint Secretary Freedoon Akram Sheikh. The centre is intended to modernise the sector, reinforce local processing and lift export prospects.

Khan argued the sector has capacity to create billions of dollars of economic output, yet large quantities of stones are lost during mining and processing. He blamed the losses on weak infrastructure, dated methods and restricted access to contemporary tools. Work has begun on formulating and implementing a Gemstones Policy aimed at preventing such losses and promoting orderly development.

The government has pledged to equip the industry with infrastructure, modern processing plants and suitable exhibition venues to match global norms. Khan stressed that local cutting and polishing would let Pakistan retain more value from its natural resources, improve marketability and expand exports. Officials see the centre as a step towards reducing post-mining losses and placing Pakistani stones more competitively in international markets.