Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Forum Commends Efforts of Minister of Housing and World Bank at “Housing Finance in Jordan” Roundtable
28-Mar-2017
AMMAN - Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Forum (TAG-KF) held a roundtable to discuss the reality of housing finance in Jordan in the presence of HE Mr. Sami Halaseh, Minister of Public Works and Housing, HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization, and representatives of the World Bank.
The session is a part of other meetings organized by the three parties to prepare an evaluation study of the housing sector and analyze the supply and demand of the housing market, to prepare a plan of action to develop the housing sector in Jordan, improve its performance to meet the housing needs of all sectors of the society.
Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh said that an agreement has been reached between the Organization, the Ministry of Public Works and Housing and the Housing and Urban Development Corporation, in collaboration with the World Bank, to conduct a comprehensive study of the housing sector in Jordan, pointing out that this session has been held to discuss the Housing Finance, which is one of eight subjects included in the study.
On his part, Halaseh stressed the importance of the sector which intertwines with more than 40 economic and service sectors, deals with more than 100 commodities and contributes to the employment of tens of thousands of national manpower, stating that the mentioned eight main themes shall be reviewed and discussed in consultation with all related concerned parties to solve the problems of the sector.
The government has taken several measures to develop the sector through tailoring sector-specific products, providing investment incentives and encouraging ownership by reducing transfer fees, the Minister added.
In that context, the team of the study briefed the attendees on the main preliminary results of the study on housing finance sector, which aimed at identifying the key challenges and opportunities.
During the session, the parties involved in the study received the observations, proposals and recommendations of the attendees, which would enrich the study and bring in practical recommendations to expand the housing finance base so as to include as many beneficiaries as possible, especially those with limited income.
During the session, housing and construction experts highlighted the significance to review the legislations governing the housing finance sector in the Kingdom, adding that the housing prices in the Kingdom are constantly rising, pointing out that involvement of the Islamic banks' in the housing finance sector has increased the chances of purchasing houses and contributed to the advancement of the sector.
The session has been attended by representatives of the various housing and housing finance sectors, including the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, the Housing and Urban Development Corporation, the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, the Central Bank of Jordan, the Department of Statistics, the Greater Amman Municipality and representatives of banks, financial institutions and financial leasing companies in Jordan, in addition to the Jordan Housing Investors Society, Jordanian Constructions Contractors Association, Jordan Engineers Association among others.