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New project set to bring lustre back to pearl trade

"We don't consider it only as a money generating project but an attempt to revive this important industry that contributed greatly in shaping the cultural, social and economic heritage of this part of the world since time immemorial,'' Abdullah Rashid Al Suwaidi, CEO of the Emirates and Japan Pearl Cultivation and Trading Company (EJPCTC), told Khaleej Times.

The work on a pearl cultivation project, the first of its kind in the UAE and Gulf region and entire Middle East, kicked off here recently.

The story goes back to 2002 when the two families jointly started investigating the possibility of establishing a pearl oyster farming industry in Al Rams area, located to the north of RAK old city.

"We agreed to conduct an on-the-spot inspection by visiting the site of the project," he said.

Besides discovering the existence of natural pearl shells in the targeted area, the inspection process revealed the suitability of sea conditions, temperature and humidity levels in the area, ''which was a very encouraging factor and gave a good start for the project,'' Abdullah Rashid added.

The work on the project started in September 2005 and took three months to complete "which was a very encouraging result taking in mind that such projects need from six to nine months at least to produce pearls in Japan," he added.

He dwelt on the area's untouched and clean environment that helps to yield strong and healthy shell fish, unlike the case in Japan.

"This relatively short span of production time is a strong indication that UAE marine environment is clean and well protected against pollution, thanks to strong and proper environment protection measure undertaken in the country and strong indicator for the environment protection people to judge the validity of the environment," he noted.

The company works in close consultation with the different environment protection bodies in both the local and national level.

''We have not only brought here Japanese pearl cultivation expertise but also pearl manufacturing knowhow to turn out products that meet the end-user's expectations and needs,'' he added.

The farm's current production capacity is 100,000 shellfish and plans are under way to increase it to 500 by the end of this year and the project's total capacity is one million shellfish. The expected production of pearl is 65 to 85 per cent from each harvest,'' he added.

Al Suwaidi also pointed out that they are looking forward to the establishment of academy to teach the local people in the pearl industry besides the establishment of the second largest pearl museum in the world, the first being in Japan.

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