The president of the Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), Mian Zahid Hussain, has urged the government to accept the recommendation of the All Pakistan Marble Industries Association so that this industry can add to the country's economy. He said Pakistan has 297 billion tonnes of marble and granite reserves, but its total export is around 53 million dollars per annum, which can be enhanced to 2.5 billion dollars within a decade. Pakistan is producing the best quality of marble and granite and it can earn a amount of huge foreign exchange, he said.
The country can reduce unemployment by paying attention to this sector, which has faced a decline of $16.55 million dollars in exports, he added.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that Pakistan is the sixth-largest extractor of marble and granite but its share in global extraction remains only two percent, and this invites the intervention of the federal and provincial governments.
Stakeholders are focused on exports of raw material resulting in ninety percent export of raw material to China and Italy, while only ten percent of the marble is exported in finished form which is barring the development of this sector, he added.
The business leader said that 78 percent of Pakistan's marble and granite reserves are located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the rest in Fata, Balochistan and Sindh. The number of operational mines is 1,400, he explained.
He noted that primitive methods of mining results in wastage and poor quality of stone, and this situation can be changed through adoption of the latest techniques, such as that of blasting.
This sector is facing problems like law and order, the energy crisis, high cost of electricity, poor road infrastructure and lack of loans, which should be considered by policymakers, he observed.
The Former minister said that the government can import the latest machinery from the US, Italy and other European countries by paying the price in the shape of marble and granite.
This will infuse new life into this sector and Pakistan will be able to grab a larger share in the 45-billion-dollar global market.
Saudi Arabia has planned to establish new cities where finished marble and granite worth billions of dollars will be required, he said, and that is an opportunity which shouldn't be missed.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.