Several top gem industry figures attended a meeting hosted by the junta-controlled Myanmar Gems Enterprise recently to discuss securing new technology and foreign investment for the sector, a leaked invitation letter shows. A total of 20 presidents, vice presidents, and secretaries of gem and jewelry associations convened in Naypyitaw on June 30 via Zoom from Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing, and Kachin. Aung Kyaw Win, vice president of the Myanmar Gems and Jewellery Entrepreneurs Association and husband of junta-appointed cabinet member Thet Thet Khine, organized their participation. The meeting was also hosted by him. As Myanmar's second-largest export after oil and gas, gems are a vital source of income for the junta, as the movement to remove it from power seeks ways to cut off its funding. Myanmar Gems Enterprise was sanctioned in April and May by the US and the UK. The majority of Myanmar's jade, rubies, and other gems, however, are imported from China, and much gems tradi
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