ISLAMABAD: Chief Executive Officer, Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC), Zahid Maqsood Sheikh Thursday said that owing to many initiatives, the production of square blocks of marble and granite was now being done in accordance with the international standard and practices.

He was talking to newly elected Chairman of All Pakistan Marble Industries Association (APMIA), Muhammad Nadeem Shahnshahi who called at PASDEC Head Office here. He informed APMIA Chairman about the mechanized quarrying through state of the art machinery in the country.

He also briefed him about the endeavours for access to finance to the marble and granite sector of Pakistan to promote this sector. He said that a committee, comprising banks, stakeholders and PASDEC, has been established to put up recommendations to provide financial and banking facilities to this sector.

He said that for facilitating dimensional stone sector an awareness session was scheduled on October 25, 2017 at Peshawar which is another sequential of successful awareness sessions held in Islamabad and Karachi earlier this year.

On the occasion, Nadeem Shahshahi, Chairman of APMIA lauded PASDEC for its efforts to develop the marble and granite sector of Pakistan and assured their full support on behalf of APMIA.