Ten Afghan companies will participate in the Gem and Jewelry Exchange fair to be held in Tucson, Arizona, February 2-7, 2010. This premier event for gems, minerals and jewelry is popular with buyers, collectors and enthusiasts from around the world.
More than 15,000 gem samples will be on display at the Afghanistan Pavilion of the Gem and Jewelry Exchange.
The companies’ participation will directly link Afghan traders to international gemstone buyers who attend the fair in their thousands. It is estimated that with the contacts made between sellers and buyers, within five years the Afghan gemstone industry alone could export over $300 million a year, approximately half the total value of exports of all products from Afghanistan in 2008.
The delegation’s participation has been sponsored by USAID’s Afghanistan Small and Medium Enterprise Development (ASMED) project, with further assistance provided by the Afghan Gemstone Traders Association.
Afghanistan is the source of some of the world’s finest emeralds, rubies, lapis lazuli, sapphires, tourmalines and aquamarines. The quality and appeal of Afghanistan’s jewelry and gemstones reflects the country’s rich and exotic cultural heritage.
Working directly with miners, the Government of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Mines, and local and international gemstone dealers, the US Government and its implementing partners in Afghanistan have been stimulating the gems and jewelry industry at all points along the value chain, from mines to markets, emphasizing on ‘fair-trade’ working practices, social responsibility and environmental sustainability.