Pakistan could earn $ 15 billion annually through export of world's best class marble, onyx and granite, found in Pakistan alone. Ihsanullah Khan, Chairman, Pakistan Stone Development Company (Pasdec) said this during an interview with Business Recorder.
Pakistan is fortunate in having a string of high mountains abundant with world's best quality marble. It is even better than Brazil, China or India. There is a huge demand for our marbles, he also said. He further said export quality marble must have good finish and gloss. His organisation Pasdec, a subsidiary of the industry ministry.
Ihsanullah Khan has invited the Prime Minister to see the new method of yanking slabs of marbles at Khuzdar mountain quarry. To achieve better result, his organisation, Pasdec, has imported state of art machinery from Italy to introduce economical and safe methods of removing marble slabs of marbles and granites from mountain ranges through blasting.
Later, Ihsanullah Khan planned to assemble similar kind of equipment and machinery at home with the help of Pakistani engineers. With the help of government support as well as from local industry and media he promised to turn around the trade deficit in favour of Pakistan, by exporting more and more of the stuff. 'We could earn more than $ 15 billion through export of granites, marbles, and onyx alone, Ihsanullah added.
THESE ARE THE FOLLOWING EXCERPTS OF THE INTERVIEW:
BR: What are your plans to market marbles and stones? We are told that Pakistan's marble export could be raised by $ 2 billion annually to compete Brazil?
IK: Our mountains range in the north, at Lasbela in Balochistan, as well as Nagrarparkar in Sindh are full of the world's best quality of marbles and granite materials.
We could do better than Brazil, and earn much more than $ 15 billion through exports of this stuff. We got huge demand for our materials, when we displayed them at exhibitions.
BR: What was the main reason for this huge demand?
IK: Pakistan is promoting enterprise household models to support entrepreneurs to produce high value products of mosaics and handicraft craving. In foreign countries, for instance, China and the USA, we were told to sell all the exhibit materials we brought, and they asked for more because we had the best and the purest variety of marble.
BR: Tell us more about your marketing plans?
IK: we are also planning to promote works within the country, by training women entrepreneurs in handcraft carving, inlay and mosaics such as table tops of exquisite beauty and design.
We have established masonry and mosaic training workshops to develop entrepreneur skills in women to provide them self-employment. Through this method of capacity building we create value-added market for marble products. We also help women entrepreneurs to establish links with foreign agencies interested in importing finished marble products from Pakistan.
BR: Tell us more about this demonstration quarry at Khuzdar.
IK: We will demonstrate to the Prime Minister of Pakistan the scientific quarry practice of extracting square block. This method will have immense trickle down effect, and have tremendous impact on quarry workers who now employ century old method of blasting and thus damage mountain quarries.
Due to lack of technology, trained manpower and precise equipment the country is incurring losses to about 73 percent in cutting marbles and granites out of mountain ranges.
We intend to reduce the loss of our valuable natural resources. Pasdec will now embark on a number of sector development projects to do business based on international practice, and we will create a skilled work force of quarry masters, quarry technicians, machine operators and helpers.
Thus, Pasdec projects are aimed at creating a direct employment work force in rural areas by opening up 10-mountain quarry to show in extracting square blocks. We also intend to establish five Marble Cities.
BR: But isn't Khuzdar in tribal area, where is law and order situation problem? How do you get to work there?
IK: No we don't have kind of this problem. The tribes, who are all locals, they don't bother us. We are creating job opportunities for the local people who would get benefit from our projects, he added.
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