NAIROBI, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Kenya plans to promote value added gemstones exports in order to boost foreign exchange earnings, a senior government official said on Friday.

John Munyes, the Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining, said in Nairobi that the government attaches great importance to the gemstone industry and has constructed a modern gemstone value addition center to enhance processing of gemstones.

"The majority of gemstones are currently exported in raw form denying the country revenues. The ministry is therefore encouraging miners and gemstone dealers to maximize on the modern value addition center to enhance the value of their stones and hence export finished product for better prices," Munyes said during the official opening of the Second Kenya Gem and Jewelry Fair.

The trade exhibition was organized by the ministry of petroleum and mining in collaboration with the Association of Women in Energy and Extractives in Kenya (AWEIK).

The Fair provided a platform to market Kenya as a country endowed with great variety of valuable gemstones with huge potential to transform the country.

The East African nation is a uniquely positioned country in terms of minerals and natural resources as it is home to over ten different types of gemstones that include Tsavorite, Ruby, Yellow Tourmaline, Green Tourmaline, Red Garnet, Aquamarine, Amethyst, Lolite and Blue Sapphire.

Munyes said that the country's huge gemstones deposits when exploited in a sustainable manner has the aptitude to immensely contribute to the national economic development by attracting more investors and hence increased revenues and royalties.

Munyes said that the government is prioritizing investments in the mining because the sector has been identified as a key pillar in the national economic blueprint Vision 2030.

Currently the mining sector contributes less than one percent of the Gross Domestic Product against a target of ten percent by the year 2030.

In 2016, Kenya introduced a new Mining Act to replace the previous one that has been in existence since 1940.

Munyes said that the country now has one of the most progressive mining laws in the region because it provides for all categories of miners, the artisanal and small-scale miners and also addresses land issues, local content, permits and licenses.

He said the government will invest in the sector to ensure that small scale miners play a bigger role in the industry, noting that women are disproportionately represented among the ranks of small scale miners.

John Mosonik, the Chief Administrative Secretary in the Ministry of Mining, said that plans are at an advanced stage to conduct a National Geophysical Airborne Survey to map out the country's mineral wealth.

"The information will be handy in our pursuit to market Kenya as a mineral wealth destination," Munyes said.

He noted that currently agricultural exports provide the bulk of the country's foreign exchange earnings and this makes the country vulnerable to external shocks.

"In order to diversify our revenues we hope to make the mineral sector a leading export sector," he said, noting that Kenya plans to leverage on technology in order to improve business climate for mining investors.