The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum held a meeting attended by representatives from several countries with the aim of establishing a center for processing precious and semi-precious stones.
Participants in this meeting discussed the establishment of a processing center for valuable mines, exporting stones outside the country, issuing mining licenses, setting up a marketplace for precious and semi-precious stones, and marketing for the mines.
Officials from several ministries, the Central Bank, and Kabul Municipality also attended the meeting.
“The purpose of this center is to ensure that the extraction of precious stones is carried out in a standard manner so that these stones can be transported from provinces to Kabul, where there will be standard laboratories for processing these stones,” Homayoon Afghan, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum said.
The Chamber of Industries and Mines also said that processing precious and semi-precious stones domestically plays an important role in increasing the country’s revenue and exports.
“I believe that establishing a center for processing precious and semi-precious stones will be very effective. The utilization of this center will economically multiply the benefits, prevent smuggling, and additionally, increase national income," said Sakhi Ahmad Paiman, First Deputy of the Afghanistan Chamber of Industries and Mines.
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce emphasized that, in the first six months of this year, precious and semi-precious stones worth $21.7 million have been exported abroad.
Akhandzada Abdul Salam Jawad, spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, said regarding the export of precious stones: “In the first two quarters of 1403 (solar year), Afghanistan exported precious and semi-precious stones worth over $21.7 million.”
Meanwhile, over the past three years, Islamic Emirate officials have consistently claimed that they have provided all necessary facilities for mining, particularly for precious and semi-precious stones in the country.
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