In July, 2016, the Mission visited the company that polishes and sells various precious and semi-precious stones.
The Mission undertook a company visit to Kaicrystals company Limited in Kofu city, Yamanachi Prefecture. Kaicrystal Co. Ltd is a family owned business that polishes and sells various precious and semi-precious stones. Their business is founded on the backbone of Kofu city which is renowned as the jewellery town of Japan and has been in gemstone processing for over 450 years. The craftsmanship skill of polishing gemstones is mainly through apprenticeships and has been passing it down through the generations. They mainly use a grinder, a disc and water to cut the stones into various shapes including jewellery, beads, ornaments and round crystals etc.
The Company intends to visit Zambia in August 2016 where they will make an assessment and also meet stakeholders including officials from the Ministry of Higher Education in charge of vocational training.