Myanmar raises cash at gem sale

Myanmar raises cash at gem sale

YANGON (DPA): Myanmar's 38th government-run Gem Emporium fetched more than US$8 million through the sale of gems and jade by auction, news reports said on Sunday.

The week-long, state-managed auction which ended on Saturday sold $3.7 million worth of Myanmar-mined rubies and sapphires and $4.3 million worth of jade, said the New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

Myanmar is the world's main supplier of jade, which is particularly popular among ethnic Chinese.

Myanmar's military rulers, who maintain a state monopoly over mining of all precious stones, have staged 38 emporiums over the past three decades as a means of earning the country -- a pariah in the West -- coveted foreign currency.