YANGON — Myanmar's annual gem emporium took in about €1 billion this year, but fell far short of last year's record-breaking fair, news reports said Tuesday.
The 13-day Myanmar Gems Emporium that ended Monday in the capital Nay Pyi Taw, brought sales worth €949 million from successful auctions of 8,943 lots of jade and 323 lots of gems, the state-run The Mirror newspaper reported.
Myanmar had seen a record sale at 51st annual gems emporium last year, earning US$3.4 billion and saw the successful auction of 6,007 of 7,454 jade lots, 126 out of 436 gem lots and 224 of the total 342 pearl lots.
"The drop in sales may be because of no auction of pearl lots, and low price and drop in jade sale this year," said an official from Myanmar Gems & Jewellery Entrepreneurs Association told the German Press Agency.
Over 4,500 traders from China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Japan attended the emporium this year, according to the organizers.
Myanmar started to hold annual gem sales in 1964.