Islamabad: Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has said Pakistan is rich with natural resources particularly precious stones and exports can be enhanced considerably by developing this sector at local level.

He directed the respective departments to complete the projects as soon as possible by ensuring transparency.

Several important decisions were taken in a meeting under PM Shehbaz Sharif to build this sector on modern lines.

Establishment of three centers of excellence and promotion of international level processing are also included in these decisions.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has tasked the Ministry of Planning to prepare a comprehensive action plan to boost exports of precious stones following their processing.

He expressed the resolve to align precious stone mining and processing in Pakistan with international standards and increase their exports.

The Prime Minister said Pakistan is blessed by Almighty Allah with a wealth of natural resources, including precious stones, emphasizing this is a sector where exports can be increased using local resources.

The meeting was informed that government is establishing three Centers of Excellence for cutting, shaping and preparing precious stones for use in jewelry. It was informed land has already been identified for centers in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, while land selection for a center in Islamabad is in progress. These Centers of Excellence will provide training for processing precious stones according to international standards.

The meeting was informed that Pakistan’s first international exhibition on precious stones will be held in July 2026.

The steps are underway for training of w workforce in collaboration with Sri Lanka and China.