His Excellency the Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, Mr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Hogail, met today in his office with the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, and her accompanying delegation, to discuss opportunities for joint cooperation between the two sides, and ways to benefit from the programs and services provided by the Ministry within the municipal and housing sectors, in the presence of His Excellency the Deputy Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, Engineer Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Budair, His Royal Highness Prince Saud bin Talal bin Badr, Undersecretary of the Ministry for Customer Experience and Customer Service and General Supervisor of the General Department of Institutional Partnerships and International Cooperation, and a number of the Ministry’s leaders.
The meeting witnessed a discussion of a number of topics of common interest to both sides, and ways to develop quality partnerships between the Ministry and the United Nations development programs in the field of infrastructure and housing projects and enhancing quality of life standards. The meeting also reviewed the story of housing in the Kingdom as one of the most successful global experiences for its contribution to increasing the percentage of Saudi families owning homes from 47% to 60% within 4 years.
At the beginning of the meeting, His Excellency the Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, Mr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Hogail, welcomed the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ms. Maimunah Mohd Sharif, and her accompanying delegation, noting the importance of the meeting in strengthening joint cooperation and exchanging successful Saudi experiences in the housing sector under the umbrella of the Housing Program - one of the programs of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 -.
During the meeting, the participants reviewed the fruitful areas of cooperation with the United Nations Habitat program, taking advantage of the Saudi Cities Future Program, the Developmental Housing Program, and supporting the National Urban Strategy.
The meeting also addressed the Ministry’s efforts in the housing sector, which contributed to strengthening market balance by enabling demand and increasing supply, developing market regulations and legislation, and facilitating access for more than 1.3 million Saudi families through easy and convenient electronic procedures, with the aim of reaching 701,000,000 Saudi families owning homes by 2030.
It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing had previously signed an agreement for a technical support project for developmental housing initiatives with the United Nations Development Programme, which is present in more than 170 countries, as part of the Ministry’s efforts to benefit from international experiences and expertise in the fields of housing in general and developmental housing in particular.
