Pakistan has the potential to become the next alternative source for the colored gemstone trade—a source of a wide variety of rough stones—but it has a long way to go to achieve that status, says Ambarine Bukharey, the newly-appointed International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA) ambassador to Pakistan.
Bukharey is a dealer in colored gemstones and minerals in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital. She joined the ICA at the organization’s most recent Congress in Bangkok in February, 2005. When she visited New York earlier this month as the head of a delegation from Pakistan’s Gems and Jewellery Strategy Working Group, an umbrella organization formed in 2004 by private stakeholders from existing gem and jewellery associations, ICA President Joseph Menzie appointed her the ICA ambassador to her country.
“For many people in the gemstones business, Pakistan is still a mystery. It is our working group’s task to unveil this mystery and effectively spread the news that our country has more gemstones varieties to offer than perhaps any other country in the world, and we wish for the world to come and help us mine, produce and sell these earth treasures,” Bukharey said.

Variety of Colored Gems :
Pakistan has ruby, emerald, tourmaline, garnet (pyrope, almandine, rhodolite, demantoid, spessartite and hessonite), topaz, peridot, aquamarine, spinel, pargasite, diopside, moonstone, serpentine jade, epidote, pink beryl (morganite), purple beryl, sphene, zoisite, lapis lazuli, turquoise, kunzite and almost all known varieties of quartz.
“Pakistan also has the potential in mineral wealth to become a centre for gemstone exploration and could become an important player in the world market on a grand scale. First, a number of essential steps must be taken locally to enhance exploration and the growth of the business. I am confident that membership of Pakistani miners and traders in ICA will be an important contribution to our opening up to the world,” Bukharey commented.
The Gems & Jewellery Strategy Working Group, which Bukharey heads, is funded by the U.S. government’s Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority, a division of Pakistan’s Ministry of Industries, Production and Special Initiatives. Bukharey also serves on the board of the All Pakistan Gems and Jewellery Exporters Association and acts as a government advisor for the Pakistani gem trade.
The Strategy Working Group delegation visited the JCK Show in Las Vegas in June 2005 and met with representatives of the leading U.S. gem labs and institutes to discuss the possibilities for cooperation on gemstone identification and education. Bukharey said the group is trying to upgrade some existing gemmological training institutes. The first of these is the Gem & Gemological Institute of Peshawar, which was established in 2001. “It represents a good effort, but one that only imparts very basic gem knowledge with an emphasis on lapidary training. There are no gem testing facilities and thus no documented gem identification,” she explained.
2 Gems Exchanges Proposed :
The delegation also met with World Bank officials in Washington, D.C., to request their help inducing potential partners to enter into joint-ventures with Pakistan’s mining sector. Bukharey conceded that there are still many hurdles that must be overcome if gemstone mining is to become profitable for both local and foreign investors in Pakistan. One encouraging sign is that efforts are underway to set up organized gems exchanges in the cities of Peshawar and Quetta where rough pours in and is traded. Plans call for these exchanges to house gem laboratories, gem dealers, cutting facilities, and offices for obtaining export documentation, especially for foreign buyers.
“Such organizations would be partially funded by the government and by private stakeholders. They would solve the problems of irregular rough supplies and haphazard pricing, and would hopefully result in documentary proof of how much is being mined and exported,” Bukharey said.

Overseas Initiatives:
Pakistani Minister of Industries Jehangir Tareen recently travelled to Thailand and Hong Kong and met their respective commerce ministers. He also arranged for a first-ever Pakistan Pavilion at the Bangkok Gems and Jewellery Show in September this year. Private stakeholders in the gem and jewellery sector have been invited to participate in these Shows and display both rough and polished gemstones, as well as finished jewellery. Many Pakistani gemstones are already sold in Bangkok, notably peridot, kunzite, aquamarine, ruby, emerald and tourmaline.
Cooperation Sought with India :
It may be recalled that Pakistan is seeking the active cooperation of India, another prominent ICA member, for the development of its gems and jewellery sector. A delegation from Pakistan’s precious sector visited Jaipur, Mumbai, etc. sometime ago and requested India to stage a series of gems and jewellery exhibitions in main cities of Pakistan as well as to negotiate collaboration in colored gems industry and trade.