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Madagascar, the largest island to the east of the African continent, situated near Tanzania, covered by forests and mountains, rich in flora and wildlife and represented by a mostly struggling population a mixture of African and Malayo-Polynesian descent... This is where one finds the largest source of varied colored gems and precious stones. This is where the hunt for what is currently the most hotly pursued gem - the pink sapphire - begins and ends. |
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Some ten years ago, a surveyor from a Thai-owned affiliation of companies discovered blue sapphire in Southern Madagascar. Soon, the variety of blue, yellow and the currently popular pink sapphires, whose quality was comparable to the gems found in Myanmar, were also discovered throughout the entire length and width of the island. The high quality, low cost gems subsequently lured thousands of Thai merchants into the country eager to try their luck. Luck proved to be on their side. Within the past three years, the gem industry in Madagascar has boomed, with at least 500 Thai parties investing in mining activities in the southern part of the country. In any given week, hundreds of kilograms of gems both bought from the locals and extracted from mining activities in the country are sent back to Thailand to be cut and either exported abroad (the bulk of which is distributed to the United States, Hong Kong, Japan and Israel) or sold at home to tourists. |
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To be expected, doing business in a country without your formal representation can be trying. Although things have improved since Thai gem merchants first stepped foot on the island ten years back, there are still difficulties that require a Thai embassy's or even a Thai consulate's facilitation. There are a substantial number of Thais living and conducting business there. The export of Thai gems and jewelry is an increasing trend (gem and jewelry exports abroad increased from 54,272 million baht in 1996 to 62,000 million baht in 2000). The Thai government should feel compelled to open up an embassy in Madagascar to look after our interests. In the meantime, however, the hot pursuit for pink sapphires continues... as long as it is still more profitable than it is dangerous.
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