Egyptian investor offers to build 100,000 houses in Pakistan: report

ISLAMABAD: A billionaire from Egypt, Naguib Sawiris, has come up with a proposal offering to build 100,000 houses in Pakistan to help government of the Muslim country to materialize its housing plan, according to report in the ArabNews.

Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry also shared the story carried by the Arab News, giving an indirect corroboration about an offer made to the Pakistan government.

According to the report, Naguib Sawiris has expressed his will to invest in 100,000 units of affordable housing to help prime minister (Imran Khan) in his vision toward Pakistan.

https://arynews.tv/en/imran-khan-naya-pakistan-housing-project/

PM Khan on October 10, 2018 had launched ‘Naya Pakistan Housing Project’ in line with his party’s election manifesto, which promised five million houses for the poor.

The prime minister expressed confidence that the programme would not only help realise the dream of a shelter for the poor but also create employment opportunities. It will also attract local and foreign investment and stimulate about forty related industries.

Tarek Hamdy, Chief Executive officer of Elite Estates, as quoted in the report, says they have “set rules or guidelines of the way of doing things” that apply to every real estate projects — whether they are affordable or high value units.

“We will use our experience and knowhow to deliver this properly to the people of Pakistan,” he added.

Since the announcement of the low-cost housing project for the poor, the scheme has been at the heart of all political and economic discourses with several calling it too ambitious.

“This scheme is very ambitious yet very promising for the people of Pakistan. I think all the developers should help in this scheme. You cannot solely rely on the government to build five million houses,” Hamdy said.

Recently, governor State Bank of Pakistan had said that the massive housing project would require financing of upto Rs 17 trillion.

Hamdy believes that the promise of building five million affordable housing units cannot be realized in a short span of time. “I think the plan is right but it has to be in stages, has to be in steps. It could be achievable obviously that is not the project (to be achieved) in one or two years… may take few good years, may be couple of decades to be achieved,” he said.