Published:  00:00 Monday - October 19, 2009

Vietnam will carve a giant statue of the Lord Buddha from a single jade boulder that is considered the largest pure jade piece in the world so far.

The jade boulder, which is 3m high, 2.3m wide, 2.4m thick and weighs 35 tonnes, was imported by the Than Chau Ngoc Viet Jewellery Company from Myanmar.

The statue is expected to be made within 2-3 years and to weigh 15 tonnes to become the largest jade statue of the Buddha in the world.

The world’s largest jade statue of Buddha at present is 3.5 m tall and weighs 4.5 tonnes, carved from an 18-tonne Nephrite jade boulder, which was discovered in Canada in 2000.