- Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey : We built millions of housing units in a few years and eliminated slums
Jeddah-Amlak
<The Jeddah Economic Forum 2013, which was held under the theme ”Housing and Population Growth” under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, Governor of Makkah, resulted in several recommendations and decisions that will support the housing process in the Kingdom within the framework of institutional work in order to build ideal cities in the Kingdom in line with the national housing strategy in the Kingdom, which works to provide adequate housing and fulfill all services.Effective participation
The forum had a large and broad participation represented by experts and prominent figures locally and internationally, in addition to the participation of a number of ministers and officials in the Kingdom, including Minister of Housing Dr. Shuwaish bin Saud Al-Duwaihi, Minister of Commerce and Industry Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabeeah, Minister of Economy and Planning Dr. Mohammed bin Sulaiman Al-Jasser, Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency Dr. Fahd bin Abdullah Al-Mubarak and Jeddah Governor Dr. Hani Abu Ras on behalf of HRH Prince Dr. Mansour bin Miteb bin Abdulaziz.The forum was attended by a number of ministers and officials.
Royal orders in support of housing
The Minister of Housing addressed the forum sessions, where he emphasized the keenness of the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to provide means of decent life and secure suitable housing for citizens, pointing out that the support enjoyed by the housing field in the Kingdom pushes the Ministry of Housing and other relevant authorities to redouble efforts in order to achieve aspirations and hopes.
He said: The housing sector in the Kingdom has received state support under a package of royal orders characterized by a strategic and comprehensive dimension, including financial allocations worth more than 250 billion riyals to build 500 thousand housing units in all regions of the Kingdom, in addition to raising the ceiling of the housing loan provided by the Real Estate Development Fund to 500 thousand riyals.
275 billion for the construction of housing units
<For his part, the Minister of Economy and Planning revealed that there is 275 billion of the budget surplus for the construction of housing units and the provision of full-service and habitable housing and there is a directive from the state to accelerate the provision of housing, noting that the demographics of the Kingdom where the percentage of Saudi and non-Saudi population has increased and this affects the demographics.
He said that the number of housing until 2010 amounted to 4.6 million dwellings and this is consistent with the population growth in the Kingdom, and there is an urgent need to provide an accurate database of the number of dwellings more than what is available and there is a conviction to provide this data, and that there is a change in the demographics of cities and rural areas made housing prices rise.
Real estate financing
The Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency addressed the executive regulations of the real estate finance system, the financial lease system and the monitoring system of companies. He pointed out that the draft executive regulations of the real estate finance system include the rules governing the real estate finance activity and the standards of the real estate finance contract with the requirement to obtain the approval of the institution on real estate finance products before they are offered to ensure that they achieve due protection for the consumer and the beneficiary, and said that the draft regulations set a regulatory framework for real estate refinancing and the mechanism for collecting and publishing data related to the activity of the real estate market, thus establishing a secondary market that contributes to providing liquidity.
He added that the draft executive regulations of the system for monitoring financing companies include the requirements for licensing these companies and the mechanism for supervising them, taking into account international experiences and best practices in order to achieve the objectives of the system and contribute to maintaining the safety and stability of the financial system and the fairness of transactions in it.
He considered the approval of the real estate finance system, which includes the executive regulations of the (real estate finance, financial leasing, and monitoring of finance companies) represents the first stage of the actual regulation of the real estate market.
100 companies to support housing
The Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency revealed that there are 100 financing companies in the Kingdom and the volume of financing amounted to 50 billion riyals and the percentage of financing is 4% of the volume of financing at banks and represents 3% of the size of the economy 25% of the growth of the housing sector in the Kingdom during the past five years.
During the session, the Secretary of Jeddah Governorate also spoke about the housing units that will be implemented during the coming period from various parties in Jeddah 4534 housing units in Jeddah, revealing that the size of informal settlements in various neighborhoods of Jeddah Governorate reaches 56 square kilometers.
Smart Cities
Participants in the forum called for the establishment of smart cities capable of facing the challenges of the future in order to meet the basic needs of a changing society, and stressed the importance of changing some of the existing cultures, which caused the disruption of population growth in some cities of the Middle East, and the director of architects and engineers at RSP in Singapore, Dr. Liu Tai Kerr reviewed his country's experience in achieving a major breakthrough in the field of housing during the talk on ”Economic basis for creating competitive cities,« and said we deliberately calculated the land that can be developed, as well as the needs of citizens for housing, and we took 4 years to study all existing data before we put solutions in place.
Creative ideas
The participants agreed that creative ideas and wonderful initiatives are what make successful population cities and contribute to their development and growth, and stressed that the city that stands in the wind and cannot determine its path will disappear from the map of urbanization and will have no place in the future. In contrast, American expert Jamie Lerner said I am happy to be here in Jeddah, I participated in many forums and talked about smart and competitive cities, but in my personal view the only thing that makes a city attractive is the high quality of life in it, and there must be a clear strategy for the success of planning any city.
Millions of housing units in a few years
Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan called for eliminating bureaucracy and providing large government explanations that may reach the granting of free land to face the Saudi housing crisis.
He stressed during his participation in the forum that his country was able in a few years to build millions of housing units and eliminate slums to achieve a civilizational shift that drew the attention of the whole world and was appreciated by the European Union: He said that his country has succeeded in the last ten years through a national program in establishing integrated residential neighborhoods and that 10 percent of housing projects were built through this program, which aimed not only to meet the needs of citizens, but to eliminate slums and urban transformation, adding that until 2006 we did not have a clear mortgage system, but it has risen dramatically and represents 6 percent of the potential.
Al-Faisal's speech
His Royal Highness Prince Khalid Al-Faisal bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Makkah, delivered a speech at the open meeting with the young men and women of the Makkah region at the conclusion of the Jeddah Economic Forum, praising the efforts of the countrymen, stressing that the sons and daughters of the country are promising that we are on the road to the first world, adding: »You do not need a leader, you need a participant who serves you ... and I am that participant."
He continued: All countries that have an advanced civilization went through the same experience and went through the same issues, and they were even greater than these issues because at that time they did not have the means of knowledge that we have today after science achieved it, all we have to do is use this science available to us and the knowledge that is no longer far from man, His Highness added:
We all have a responsibility towards our religion, our people and our country.
