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YANGON : Military-ruled Myanmar said Thursday it will hold a new auction of gems and jade next month, despite calls for a boycott on precious stones from the country.
The official New Light of Myanmar newspaper said the sale would take place from November 7-19, the fifth such auction this year.
The announcement came in the wake of a violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters that left at least 13 dead and drew international condemnation, in the biggest anti-government rallies in nearly 20 years.
Sales of precious stones have become a major money-spinner for the military government, attracting buyers from around the world who spend up to 100 million dollars at each auction.
One of the poorest countries in the world, Myanmar supplies up to 90 percent of the world's rubies and has rich jade deposits that are highly prized in neighbouring China.
Despite sanctions on the country, many stones from Myanmar find their way to markets in the West through neighbouring Thailand, where they are often cut and polished and then sold in the United States or Europe.
Iconic New York jeweller Tiffany's is among the few that refuses to sell stones from Myanmar, but the industry group Jewellers of America this week asked the US Congress to specifically ban all gemstones mined in Myanmar.
Cartier also said this week that it had stopped buying gems which might have been mined in Myanmar until further notice.
Myanmar's auctions usually attract hundreds of buyers, especially from China and Thailand, although obtaining a visa has become more difficult since the crackdown.
Myanmar holds the auctions to try to stifle the thriving black market trade in gems, but many precious stones are still smuggled over to Thailand.
- AFP/ir
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