Fozia Mehnaz

The boom in the housing and construction sector can turn the economy around, create more jobs and attract investment, Federal Secretary of Ministry of Housing and Works Iftikhar Ali Shallwani said while addressing the pre-launch ceremony of the first International Housing Expo. The Ministry of Housing and Works in collaboration with the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry will organize the four-day expo under the theme “Shelter for All” at the Convention Centre on December 8.

A large number of builders, developers and realtors attended the pre-launch ceremony and showed keen interest in participating in the event. Iftikhar said Dubai faced economic problems during 2008-09 and construction of sole mega project Burj Khalifa helped revive its economy. He said many countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, China and Japan, achieved better growth by focusing on the housing and construction sector.He said the purpose of organizing the housing expo was to stimulate the business and economic activities and provide affordable housing to the people.

He said the government wanted to promote the housing sector with public-private partnership to address the housing needs of the people. Iftikhar said housing was the fundamental right of every citizen and the government wanted to ensure this right in collaboration with the private sector. He said the expo would attract local and international investors and would be a right step towards providing shelter for all. Speaking on the occasion, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry, said Pakistan was facing a shortage of millions of houses due to the rising population and stressed that the government should support the housing and construction sector to ensure shelter for all.

He said growth in housing and construction would boost the business activities of all allied industries and help revive the economy. He said timely delivery of credible housing projects on public-private partnership would improve the confidence of buyers and attract more investment. He said the ICCI had already organized two very successful property and housing expos and hoped that the first international housing expo would be another landmark success. 

He said the government should establish an expo centre in the federal capital to promote exhibitions of various sectors to boost the business and economic activities. Faad Waheed, Senior Vice President of ICCI; Khalid Iqbal Malik, Group Leader; Khalid Javed, Zafar Bakhtawari, Sheikh Amir Waheed, Muhammad Shakeel Munir, Sardar Tahir, Ch. Masood, Muhammad Naveed Malik and others also spoke on the occasion and assured the organizers of their cooperation and support for the expo.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk