Solitaire Gemmological Laboratories (SGL), headquartered in London, and laboratories in Dubai and nine different cities in India, signed a memorandum of intent with the Nepal Gem & Jewelery Association (NEGJA), which provides for the opening of a new laboratory in Kathmandu.
This international laboratory will be the first in the market of Nepal, as well as the first to conclude a strategic partnership with NEGJA. This association is the largest seller of jewelry products in Nepal and is managed by the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the country.
The memorandum was signed by Manish Lal Pradhan, president of NEGJA, and Chirag Soni, director of SGL. The solemn ceremony was attended by Dr. Minendra Rijal, Minister of Information and Communications of Nepal, and other high-ranking officials of the Nepalese jewelry industry.
"We welcome the intention of SGL to develop a system of certification and standardization of the huge amount of precious stones that is available to Nepal, as well as create criteria for assessing Nepalese jewelry products for the international market, making these processes transparent for both local and international consumers," Pradhan said.
In the past few years, the consumption of gold and diamonds in Nepal has steadily increased, and this has attracted several large jewelry companies to the country's market. Also NEGJA held the first in the country exhibition-display of jewelry, in which the public demonstrated several of the most beautiful jewelry works.
"SGL welcomes this step and we are pleased to begin working with NEGJA in this area.Nepal has mines where many varieties of precious stones are mined, many of which are inherent only in this area, so creating a system for describing such stones will bring transparency to the process of their implementation Diamond jewelery is also becoming an important part of this system, and we expect a big increase in this area in the coming years, "said Sony.