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.