Sri Lanka’s President, Maithripala Sirisena, on Saturday said foreign companies would not be allowed to enter gem mining industry in the country.

Sri Lankan gem industrialists had requested Sirisena to take steps to stop mining by foreign firms during his election campaign last year.

Sirisena said though the demand for the nation’s tea and rubber has declined in the international market, the demand for gems was on the rise. He emphasised that the gem industry had a “special role” to play in increasing the country’s earnings through exports.

Exports

The exports of gems, diamonds and jewellery, fetched $ 393.6 million last year as against $ 445.5 million in 2013, according to provisional data released by the 2014 Annual Report of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. The share of the segment in the overall exports went down from 4.3 per cent in 2013 to 3.5 per cent.

He also recounted his meeting with Queen Elizabeth in March this year, during which the Queen had showed to him her jewellery, many of which were made of gems from Sri Lanka.

The trend of decline in export earnings from the segment continued during January-October 2015, according to Ministry of Finance document published in November.

(The Hindu)