(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-10 10:58

YANGON- Myanmar will hold a 12-day annual gem show here starting the first weekend of next month in a bid to boost foreign exchange earning, state media reported Sunday.

Domestically produced quality gems, jade, pearl and jewelry will be displayed as usual and sold through competitive bidding and at fixed prices on the 45th occasion of such show scheduled for March 9 to 20, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper quoted the central committee for organizing the 2008 Myanmar gems emporium as saying.

In the 44th annual Myanmar gems emporium held in March last year, 3,652 lots of jade, gems and pearl were sold out, gaining 148 million euros (185 million US dollars), according to then official statistics.

In a mid-year gems emporium in November last year, which was the 16th, a total of 3,618 lots of jade, gems and pearls worth of 150 million US dollars were sold, according to the emporium sources. The event was participated by  a total of 3,616 merchants including 2,285 of 1,584 companies from China, China's Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, India, Italy, Britain, Japan, Australia, the United States and Canada.

Almost all products displayed in the November emporium belong to private enterprises and the products worth about 230 million US dollars at floor prices, the sponsoring committee said earlier.

Myanmar started to hold gem shows annually in 1964, introducing the mid-year one in 1992 and the special one in 2004.

Myanmar, a well-known producer of gems in the world, boasts ruby, diamond, cat's eye, emerald, topaz, pearl, sapphire, coral and a variety of garnet tinged with yellow.

According to the state-run Myanmar Gems Enterprise, of the country's top 10 exporters for the fiscal year 2006-07 which were dominated by the state sector, the MGE stood the third with a gem sale value of 296.9 million dollars after Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise and the Myanmar Timber Enterprise.  

The government's Central Statistical Organization revealed that in  2006-07, Myanmar produced 20,458 tons of jade and 20.879 million carats of gems which include ruby, sapphire, spinel and peridot, as well as 240,595 mommis (902 kilograms) of pearl.

The latest figures also indicate that in the first five months (April-August) of 2007-08, the country yielded 9,505 tons of jade and 9.433 million carats of gems as well as 35,369 mommis (132 kilograms) of pearl.