By Muhammad Soban ISLAMABAD, Mar 22 (INP-WealthPK): By using modern technology in the marble extraction and shaping process, Pakistan has an incredible opportunity to enhance its exports, thereby helping the economy to earn foreign exchange. According to estimates of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), Pakistan has extensive reserves of approximately 300 billion tons of marble and 1,000 billion tons of granite. Pakistan’s marble exports have been declining over the last five years. The following graphs show the trend. There are many reasons, but Covid-19 is one of the major reasons that has slowed down every economic sector, including the marble sector. In the fiscal year 2020-21, Pakistan exported marble-related products to the world worth $17.1 million. Pakistan exports marble and granite to different countries, but China, Oman, and Italy are the top destinations for exports, respectively. The global market of marble is growing very rapidly. According to Research and Markets, the size of the global marble market is around $62 billion and it is being projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.28%, reaching $83.42 billion by 2026. Pakistan has marble and granite reserves across all provinces and Gilgit-Baltistan. Marble, onyx, and granite are all classified as dimension stones. These are natural stones that can be shaped in the form of blocks, slabs, tiles, etc., and are mostly used for monumental and decorative purposes. The use of dimension stone in ancient buildings and monuments has continued ever since antiquity. Although Pakistan has vast reserves of marble and granite, it has not been able to maximize these resources due to a lack of modern technology and machinery. Pakistan can earn billions of dollars by exporting marble and granite. To explore the potential of the marble sector in Pakistan, there is a need to use modern technology in extracting marble and granite. WealthPK has explored that due to non-mechanized and traditional methods of extraction, around 70 percent of marble is wasted. The government of Pakistan should incentivize investors to import modern machinery so that marble and granite can be turned into value-added products, and wastage is stopped. Pakistan can also adopt Chinese quarrying techniques for marble and granite. It will help Pakistan’s marble industry to transform into the modern paradigm. China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is also providing opportunities through establishing industrial parks to utilize the valuable marble reserves of the country effectively. Moreover, the government of Pakistan should help this sector to train human resources and develop marble-related modern products. Similarly, the sea freight cost for marble exporters has increased dramatically. To ease the burden on marble exporters, the government should offer a volume-based freight subsidy or rebate. Finally, to promote the marble industry, the government of Pakistan should provide more legal rights to new investors to quarries, as they now have the right to quarries through a contractual arrangement. In this way, new investors will install plants in the marble industry that would help to create employment opportunities.