More labs for gold testing

Indunil Hewage

The gold industry needs to have a quality control system for its products, as customers are more interested in buying qualitative gold products, the National Gem and Jewellery Authority said.

The National Gem and Jewellery Authority is proposing to set up fully fledged gold testing laboratories in Galle, Kandy and Jaffna.

“The gold testing laboratory in Colombo is conducting around 75 to 100 gold testings per day,” National Gem Authority Laboratory Manager Siri Chandra Edirisinghe said.

It is estimated that around Rs 35 million will have to be spent for machinery in one gold testing laboratory.

“Russia and Ukraine are more conscious about the quality of gold products and China, USA, UK, Switzerland are major export markets for Sri Lankan gold products,” Edirisinghe said.

He said the South is the manufacturing hub for gold products and Kandy is the marketing hub for gold products.

“The country needs more gold craftsmen to sustain the industry and measures have been taken to identify good craftsmen in order to provide training for them,” he said.

“Gold prices in the world market are often fluctuating due to changing supply and demand patterns and this has directly affected the country’s gold market”.

“India is the major regional competitor for Lankan gold products and if the country can move forward with latest know-how, it will be able to become a hub for gold products in the near future,” he said.

It is reported that gold imports has increased in recent times in keeping with the Government decision to lift the Nation Building Tax.