Gems earn Myanmar $288m

--PHOTO: AP
YANGON (Myanmar) - MYANMAR has earned more than 140 million euros, (S$288 million), from sales of jade at its latest government-sponsored gem auction, despite a US ban on their import, a merchant said.

More than 3,500 lots of jade were sold at the Jade, Gems and Pearl Emporium, said the merchant who participated in the auction but spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisal.

Revenue figures for gemstones and pearls were not available.

Organized by the Mines Ministry, gem auctions are a major revenue earner for Myanmar's ruling junta, which faces economic and political sanctions from the West because of its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.

The government, which takes a 10 per cent tax from the sales, does not release official sales figures from the auction.

The sale ran from March 8-20 in Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city, and drew more than 3,000 gem merchants, mostly from China and Hong Kong. Attendance and revenue was roughly the same as at previous auctions, despite the sanctions and the global financial crisis.

Last year, the United States banned the import of gems from Myanmar, which already was the voluntary policy of retailers such as Tiffany's and Bulgari. US officials said at that time that Myanmar has been evading earlier gem-targeting sanctions by laundering stones in other countries before they are shipped to the United States.

Because of US economic sanctions imposed on Myanmar in July 2003, which froze all US dollar remittances to the country, international business transactions including the gem sales are done in euros.

Myanmar gem sellers say the sanctions have little impact on their business because their major buyers are gem merchants from Asia. -- AP