LAHORE: Stone and marble sector has immense export potential and the business community should take benefit of this great and grand untapped opportunity.
This was crux of the speeches delivered at an awareness session on Marble Industry, jointly organized by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC) at LCCI.
PASDEC CEO Baber Mairaj Shami, chairperson Shamamatul Arbab, LCCI president Kashif Anwar, executive committee member Chaudhry Khadim Hussain, former presidents Mian Muhammad Ashraf, Abdul Basit, Almas Hyder, former Vice presidents Zeshan Khalil, Tahir Manzoor Chaudhry and executive committee members spoke on the occasion. A documentary of available opportunities in stone sector was also shown to the participants who asked many questions.
Shmamatul Arbab said that PASDEC is a federal agency. Earlier approach was to sit in the office but now PASDEC is reaching to the business community to highlight the potential of this sector. He said that the first session is being held at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and industry with an aim to take guidance from the businessmen. She said that yet we are using old technology to extract the marble. Blasting causes irreparable damage to the marble.
LCCI president Kashif Anwar said marble industry of Pakistan has immense export potential which needs to be exploited. He said that Pakistan has high quality marble and stones but because of aged technology for grading, cutting, polishing and finishing both quality and quantity are lost.
He added that even today, we are using blasting to extract marble as a result of which, many precious stone are lost at the initial stage. He said that Pakistan is prominent in the world for having green onyx, black granite, super white and other types of marble but most of these is being exported in raw form.
The LCCI President said that the government should introduce a special policy for the development of this sector and provide financial support to the people attached with this stone and marble industry so that Pakistan can earn huge foreign exchange by enhancing exports of this sector. He also called for value addition and use of modern technology.
He said that latest machinery is not coming into the country because of Chapter 84-85. He underlined the need for financing to the SME sector. He added that high rate of discount rate is also hindering the growth of export.
CEO PASDEC Babar Miraj Shami said that the country is abundant with the resources of semi-precious gems, granite, onyx, marble and rock salt which are also known as Himalayan salt but unfortunately we are not using these resources properly as most of the part is being exported in raw form.
Another reason is that no public-private investment has been made on modern machinery and technology. He said that we had an agreement Italy regarding stone development but could not avail the opportunity because of red tapism. He said that now the government is serious wants to develop this sector.
LCCI Executive Committee Member Chaudhry Khadim Hussain said exports are imperative for the survival of local businessmen as the imports are not viable for those who do not have sufficient exports. He said that at global level, Pakistan known for blocks, not for the slabs. He said that blocks have very low value as compared to the slabs. He said that we do not have polishing and cutting facilities.
We export marble in raw shape which comes back again after cutting and polishing. He said that Pakistan is nowhere in the list of top exporting countries. He said that we should focus on stone and marble sector as these resources are diminishing throughout the world but Pakistan has these at vast scale.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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