TAFA support of marble sector: achievements, results and recommendations Kabul, March 2013

TAFA- EPAA Survey on Marble Companies in Afghanistan  In order to find out facts about the marble Sector Development/Challenges and Opportunities in Afghanistan, TAFA in coordination with EPAA conducted a survey in Kabul, Herat and a telephonic survey of marble in Nangarhar province.  According to AISA 2012 marble sector analysis report approximately 105 companies are working in this sector

TAFA- EPAA Survey on Marble Companies Findings During this survey totally 22 out of 105 marble companies were visited as follows:  11 marble companies in Kabul  7 marble companies in Herat  4 marble companies in Nangarhar ( by telephone )

TAFA- EPAA Survey on Marble Companies Findings In this sector, approximately 6300 persons are employed. I

TAFA- EPAA Survey on Marble Companies Findings  5 out of the 22 visited companies had exports of processed marble  4 of the visited companies had exports of unprocessed marble  14 companies supplied marble to domestic markets

TAFA- EPAA Survey on Marble Companies Findings  The processed marble export was mainly to:  Iran, Pakistan, China, Italy, Turkey and India  The unprocessed marble export was mainly to:  UAE, Pakistan, China, Italy, Turkey and India

Employee-Labor Comparison (22 surveyed Companies-Entire Industry

Labor Percentage in Processing and Extraction ( 22 Survey Companies) ExtractionProcessed

Domestic Sales Vs Export of 22 Surveyed Companies Domestic SalesExports sqm sqm

Total Production of 22 Surveyed Companies

Challenge/ Problems of the Marble Sector: o High Rate of royalty at the quarries o Huge import of low quality marble from neighboring countries o Imposition of tax on processed marble o Lack of security at the quarries

Challenge/ Problems of the Marble Sector o Lack of attention and encouragement of the relevant authorities to marble traders o Lack of long-term loans and credit system o Problems in bidding o Lack of required advanced machinery

Challenge/ Problems of the Marble Sector o Lack of required facilities for the development of marble sector such as: - Electricity -Transportation -Access roads -space for processing

Recommendations -According to the traders, to overcome these challenges and problems, the following steps need to be taken: In this sector, approximately 6300 persons are employed, if the government supports the marble sector, the number of employees will substantially increase Establishment of understanding between the private sector and relevant authorities Strong support of the government from marble sector

Recommendations Raising tax on importing marble from neighboring countries Provision of loans and banking guarantees to the marble traders Facilitating opportunity for participation of traders in the world marble exhibitions Decrease in the current royalty rate Allocation of land for the processing of marble to the marble sector

Recommendations Establishment of coordination among the relevant authorities for the purpose of marble sector development Establishment of a unified policy and strategy for the marble development and export

Export Growth Trend as a result 10%, 20% and 50% increase