APP – Provincial Minister for Local Government Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), Rana Farman Ali on Monday said the government was taking steps to explore natural resources for socio-economic development of the region.

Talking to media men, he said the entire belt was rich in deposits of precious and semi-precious stones and the government was actively working on a plan to utilize those resources for uplift of the region.

In this regard, the workable policies were being worked out offering numerous opportunities of investment in the sector, he added.

He said many departments of Gems and minerals sector were conducting different cutting and polishing courses of precious and semi-precious stones as value addition to capture good share in market.

He maintained that many departments also imported foreign cutting and polishing machinery and they were continuously conducting different cutting and polishing courses of different lengths for the GB's youth.