Botswana, the world's largest diamond miner by the cost of raw materials, plans to amend the State Diamond Cutting Act and the Precious & Semi-Precious Stones Act.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Mining, Energy and Water Resources Boikobo Paya informed within the framework of the Botswana Resource Sector Conference that this step is intended to stimulate the development of beneficiation of precious stones.
According to him, the relevant draft laws are at the final stage of consideration in the parliament.
Paya, who participated in the official opening ceremony of the conference, told delegates that both bills will be put into effect next July.
The aim of the Botswana authorities is to attract and ensure the continued participation of local people in all segments of the diamond pipeline.
Currently, the government is actively working in the sphere of mining rough diamonds, but its participation in retail sales of diamonds is very limited.
However, recently Botswana has made great strides in securing maximum profits from diamond mining. In particular, last year the authorities managed to persuade De Beers to transfer its international sales unit to sightholders from London and Gaborone.