The Chamber has always taken effective steps to bring the non-conventional sectors to the fore

Staff Reporter

RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) here on Tuesday urged the Government to establish Gems & Jewelry Authority at the earliest. The draft of the Act for the authority has already been approved by the Federal cabinet.

Addressing the standing committee meeting on Gems and Jewelry Nadeem Rauf said that we demand immediate establishment of the Gems Authority so that exports of non- conventional sectors like Gems and Jewelry can be enhanced. The Chamber has always taken effective steps to bring the non-conventional sectors to the fore. He said that RCCI successfully organized Gems & Jewelry Exhibitions in 2018 and 2019. The third Gems Jewelry & Fashion Expo will be held in May this year, he informed.

Chairman Prime Minister’s Task Force on Gems and Jewellery Engineer Gul Asghar Khan who attended the meeting as special guest said that the setting up of Gems Authority will be implemented soon with the aim of developing the gems and jewellery sector. He shared important data analysis in comparison with India where exports in gems and Jewelry sectors crossed 40 billion dollars whereas in Pakistan the exports are only 24 million dollars.

Chairman Committee Fayyaz Qureshi spoke in detail about the problems faced by the Gems&Jewellery sector in which cutting, polishing, certification and value addition of precious stones which need to be addressed. Taxes and duties should be reduced. Relevant people from different sectors should be included in the authority, he demanded.

Chairman task Force also cut the ribbon of the soft launch of RCCI 3rd Gems & Jewelry Expo to be held in May 2022.

Group Leader SohailAltaf, Senior Vice President Asim Malik, Vice President Talat Awan, Former Presidents Dr. Hassan Saroush, Dr. Shamail Dawood, MianHumayun Pervez, Small Chamber President Asif Idrees, Members of Task Force, RCCI Executive Committee and members were present on the occasion.