Pride of Pakistan

Open-ended policies mean that just as there is no control over exports, there’s no check on what’s being imported either. Whereas the outflow is that of prime raw marble, the inflow is that of top-end finished products. Since the local industry’s growth is stunted and there’s no local value-addition, the import of value-added is a double-whammy. Forget foreign markets, Pakistani producers can’t even compete in their own country thanks to the influx of Spanish and Italian products.

This means that local producers are missing out on construction projects such as Bahria Town and DHA City. “Almost all of the marble being used in these projects is imported,” says Tariq. “Because any big project wants steady quality and consistency, they have a problem getting that here in Pakistan,” explains Hashwani.

Tariq demands a change in the import policy, in line with the demand of change on the export policy, namely that which allows the local industry to move from trading marble to processing it. “There should be duty on finished products,” he says.