Federal Minister for Sports and Culture, Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan Jogezai has stressed the need for enhancing export of marble goods saying that it would help the country earn more foreign exchange.
Addressing the members of All Pakistan Marble Association at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), the minister said that nature has bestowed Pakistan with valuable natural resources and there was an urgent need to exploit these for economic uplift of the country.
Pakistan has fertile land, it has sea, hills, coal, gas, oil, marble and other reservoirs and there is an urgent need to fully utilise these natural gifts, he remarked. Sardar Sikandar appreciated the role of ICCI for the promotion of trade activities and said that his ministry would help the chamber for establishment of Industrial Park in Islamabad.
Earlier, President ICCI Ijaz Abbasi said that Pakistan had improved its marble products with the establishment of Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC). He said that PASDEC vocational training programmes should also be started for the development of the product. Director PASDEC Shahid Rehman in his presentation briefed about the status of various projects undertaken by the PASDEC.
He said that PASDEC was setting up four marble cities in collaboration with the National Industrial Parks Development and Management Company. He said that Pakistan's marble exports at present stood at $23 million and efforts were being to take these to $500 million by 2011.
He said that Pakistan had an edge over India and China as it had 64 types of marbles. He, however, said that 85 percent of the marble was being wasted due to blasting and lack of proper facilities. The use of modern technology would reduce 45 percent of these losses, he added.
Former presidents ICCI, Munawar Moughal, Zubair Ahmed Malik, Mian Akram Farid and Khalid Javed and the members from Marble Industry Association Shakil Munir, Mian Abdul Sami and Muhammad Saleem also spoke on the occasion.
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