Daily Times

KARACHI: Overall exports in the marble sector stood at $53.43 million during July 2015 to June 2016, registering a decline of around $16.55 million as compared to the preceding fiscal year (2014-15), in which the exports stood at $69.98 million, All Pakistan Marble Mining Processing Industry and Exporters Association (APMMPIEA) said on Thursday.

APMMPIEA Chairman Sanaullah Khan said the export target for fiscal year 2016-17 had been fixed at around $65 million, and under such a situation the need for ‘Marble City’ was imminent.

He said that the decline in exports during the previous fiscal year could be attributed to power load shedding, high cost of doing business and dull incentives from the Ministry of Industries and Production. “Pakistani marble is of excellent quality and its products can compete with any other county’s products.”

Khan said the global trade in marble and granite was estimated at $45 billion a year, while Pakistan remained a marginal market player. “With improvement in its infrastructure and technology, this sector has the potential to play a far more important role,” he said.

Sanaullah Khan said there was no problem of quantity, but Pakistan was facing the problems of quality and value addition, as the country had poor infrastructure and lacked modern machinery and technology to cater to the demand.

“Frequent load shedding was proving to be the biggest hurdle in the smooth performance of the marble industry,” he said, adding that the government should provide a favourable load shedding schedule to the marble industry so that they could adjust their production without facing much problems.

He said that officials in Sindh had assured the exporters of early resolution of the issue, including the start of the Marble City project, as it was on top of the agenda. He said that work on the project should be on war footing.

“After setting up Marble City, marble exports would enhance to $2.5 billion in the next 10 years,” he claimed, adding that under Vision 2016-17, the number of industrial units in Marble City would be increased to 5,000.

He said that Pakistan had a great chance to compete well in the international marble market, as Saudi Arabia was one of the top 10 globally competitive investment destinations, which “has initiated the development of complete, major new cities in the Kingdom”.

He said the government had approved the Karachi Marble City proposal submitted by APMMPIEA and around 350 acres had already been allocated for this project on the Northern Bypass.

The association’s chairman said the federal government had already sanctioned funds for the development of Marble City, but due to delay on one pretext or another, the project had been in the doldrums. He said the project cycle-1 (PC-1) of this city had already been approved in June 2007.