Lifting US jade sanctions ‘a mistake’: Myanmar minister
The minister in charge of mining in Myanmar’s conflict-ridden state of Kachin says it was a mistake for the United States to lift sanctions on the country’s notorious jade industry. Kachin lies at the heart of the “jade tract”, a small area that has deposits of the majority of the world’s precious green gemstone. The secretive industry in Myanmar, worth an estimated US$31 billion in 2014, according to Global Witness, has been shadowed by a long-running narrative of corruption, cronyism and abuses. It was also one of the last remaining sectors still under the grip of US economic sanctions, enforced following the Saffron Revolution in 2007. The restrictions had meant the import or purchase of jade, as well as rubies, was banned. However, the sanctions were largely seen as targeting key influential figures involved in murky business dealings. The jade trade is central to that. And it was a surprise when US President Barack Obama eased the controls, with the support of Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, in September.
