LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) and Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC) Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding to ensure growth of marble & stone industry on sustainable basis.
CEO PASDEC Zahid Maqsood Sheikh and the LCCI Acting President Nasir Hameed Khan inked MOU in the presence of Provincial Minister for Mines & Minerals Chaudhry Sher Ali and Convener LCCI Standing Committee on Marble industry Chaudhry Khadam Hussain. Secretary Mines & Minerals Dr. Muhammad Arshad, Executive Committee Member Zeeshan Khalil and Mehboob Sirki also spoke on the occasion.
Provincial Minister said that the efforts are afoot for the development of mines and minerals sector of Punjab and special attention is being given towards technological advancement and old techniques are being replaced with the new ones. He said that mining sector is being developed in consultation with stakeholders as its efficiency is need of the hour. He said that MOU between LCCI and PASDEC should be translated into agreement.
The LCCI Acting President Muhammad Nasir Hameed Khan said that Pakistan is one of the top mineral extractors of marble and granite in the world. He said that despite having huge deposits, country’s exports of marble and marble products are not up to the mark. He said that government should remove the constraints faced by the marble & stone industry to ensure sharp increase in its exports. He said that major obstacles hindering the growth of mining industry are dearth of value addition, outdated quarrying techniques, latest technology and lack of infrastructures etc that must be focused by the concerned authorities. He said that MOU between the LCCI and PASDEC will certainly help flourishing this important industry. He said that LCCI
CEO PASDEC Zahid Maqsood Sheikh said that collaboration between the two organizations will help developing marble and granite sector of Punjab. He said that Pakistan Stone Development Company develops marble and granite sector through implementation of modern quarrying methods and will provide all necessary technical support in planning, development and execution of mechanized quarries, processing facilities and skill development. He said that PASDEC will provide complete sources with technical assistance, if the investors/business community is prepared to come forward on production side for boosting the exports of marble and granite.
Convener LCCI Standing Committee on Marble Chaudhry Khadam Hussain said that Pakistan is blessed with finest quality marble but lack of modern technologies for cutting, finishing and grading is coming in the way. He said that Italy has the best technologies for promotion of marble sector while Italian businessmen are also keen to start joint ventures with their Pakistani counterparts that would also help transferring technology. He said that these measures can help value addition of marble that would help earning precious foreign exchange.
