Housing Industry Presents Huge Potential for Investment and Expansion: Abid H K Shirwani
Wednesday, October 24 2018
Addressing the opening session of the 3rd IBCE 2018, Abid H K Shirwani, DG UMT and Chief Organizer UMT, said that we are holding the IBCE at a time when Dr Hasan Sohaib Murad, who originally conceived the idea, is not present among us. Yet, we are committed to carrying forward his mission. Dr Hasan believed that it is the manufacturing sector rather than the consumer sector which attracts foreign investment. That is why technology transfer is essential for the knowledge economy.
Abid H K Shirwani added that one rarely finds educational institutions organizing business conferences and exhibitions. In this respect, UMT scored a first in 2016. This gave a perfect shape to the concept of triple helix (government, industry and academia). Citing the Federal Bureau of Statistics data, he said that there are only 20 million housing units for a population of 207 million. This means a shortage of 10 million housing units. This presents huge potential for investment and expansion. The setting up of a Federal body to provide loans to construction companies at fixed rates will boost the construction industry. India, Egypt and Jordan have a thriving mortgage industry and we can learn from their experience.