afghanistan's president ademounsed all marble had to be processed in the country before exported. >> countries like china and others won't use any other stone. >> others say while it may be hard now, in the long run it's better to develop the local industry. >> if they can't process it. they can export it. they should bring more equipment to process it. >> that is what happened. more than 40 factories shut down. staff have been laid off. >> it's not easy when you start a business. government should help with interest free loans. >> reporter: this is not the only threat the industry is facing. >> these blocks of marble have come from a community 180km from here. the taliban is active in the area, there's ambushes and criminals on the road. >> dealing with the taliban means paying them money to let the mines operate and the trucks through safe. afghanistan says it's white marvel rivals italian ston. right now, it looks like it's breaking apart. >>> you can keep up to date by logging on to our website aljazeera.com. because they are local stories the abusive or just plain risky behavior