Chief Executive Officer of Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC) Ihsanullah Khan said on Wednesday that Pakistan could exploit marble and granite resources to boost its economy.
Pakistan is blessed with huge reserves of natural stone like marble and granite in multiple colours, shades and veinages, he said speaking at the inaugural ceremony of All Pakistan Marble Industries Association (APMIA) Head Office here.
PASDEC has now introduced mechanized quarrying through modern machinery to develop the marble and granite sector.
He appreciated APMIA’s efforts in supporting PASDEC at a time when it was needed. He said that APMIA is the true representative body of marble and granite stakeholders that is growing by the day.
Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC), not a profit organization, is dedicated to make Pakistan globally competitive and socially responsible player of the international dimensional stone industry.
The PASDEC is focused on achieving one goal, extraction of `’Square Blocks.’’ This strategy would have a trickle down effects through the value chain of the industry, achieving tremendous transformational impact, he added.
He said that PASDEC has established 29 prototype projects of marble and granite in a short span fulfilling its due commitment to the sector. “We established three Model Quarries at Khuzdar (Balochistan), Buner (KPK) and Chitral (KPK) and
10 Quarry Up-gradations in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, FATA, Sindh and Punjab. The Quarrying projects are producing Square Blocks of marble.”
The mechanized quarrying practices decrease the natural stone wastage ratio from 85% to 40% (mine to processing).
It also discourages blasting practices of extraction of natural stone which is not only dangerous to human life but is adding to environmental degradation.”
Khan said that PASDEC has also established two warehouses at Gaddani and Risalpur for storage of raw stone and finished products of marble and granite. While two machinery pool projects established at Gaddani and Risalpur are serving mine owners and lease holders to acquire modern quarrying machinery on nominal rental charges.
The PASDEC, he said will establish Marble City at Mohmand Agency (FATA), Risalpur and Loralai to facilitate processing with trained workforce and latest processing machinery and infrastructure. Two Common Facility Training Centers (CFTCs) will also be established.
He said that by the efforts of APMIA and PASDEC the marble export quantum is increasing at 35% annually. He hoped that $500 million export target will be achieved in near future.
Sikandar Hayat Khan Jogezai Chairmain of APMIA and ex-chairmen Shahid- ur-Rehman, Abdusami and Saleem Mughal also present on the occasion. They expressed their views on APMIA and their confidence on PASDEC and landed its performance.
