Islamabad, DEC 9 /DNA/ – Many dignitaries visited the 1st International Housing EXPO 22 on its second day being organized by the Ministry of Housing & Works in collaboration with Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Capt. (Retd) Muhammad Safdar PNL-N leader and former MNA, H.E. Chakkrid Kraichaiwong Ambassador of Thailand, H.E. Nguyen Tien Phong, Ambassador of Vietnam, H.E. H.E. Khazar Farhadov Ambassador of Azerbaijan and H.E. Ms. Dilshad Senor, Ambassador of Northern Cyprus.
Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Iftikhar Ali Shallwani, Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Works took the visiting dignitaries to various stalls put up for display in the EXPO. The visiting guests took great interest in the products and projects displayed in the EXPO and highly appreciated the Ministry of Housing & Works and ICCI for organizing such a wonderful EXPO.
Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari briefed the Capt. (Retd) Muhammad Safdar about the importance of establishing a new industrial estate in the region to promote industrialization and investment and he assured that ICCI should give him a proposal and he would try to get its approval from the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
On the second day, panel discussions were also held on the sidelines of the EXPO. The first session was held on “Low Cost Housing and Financing Frameworks with panellists Muhammad Azhar ul Islam Zafar Vice President ICCI, Najeeb Haroon Chairman PEC, Maj Gen (Retd) Amer Aslam Khan, Acting Chairman NPHDA, Dr. kamran Shams CEO Akhuwat Islamic Microfinance, Dr. Athar Mansoor, Consultant Public Policy Business School Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Hassan Junaid, Head Islamic Business Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company, Jamshaid Meher’homji CEO Trellis Housing Finance Company, Ch. Abdullah UPDL and Shoji Hasegawa DRR Expert JICA as Keynote Speaker. The second session was held on “Urban Governance, Urban Development and Regulation” with panellists Waseem Hayat Bajwa Member Planning and Design CDA, Ms. Emma Ahmed, Director Altair International, Naveed Iftikhar Co-Founder Atom Camp, Ms. Sabouhi Sarshar, faculty TAF-IAST Haripur and the third session was held on “Affordable Housing Needs, Realities, Options and Actions” with panellists Zaigham Mehmood Rizvi Chairman Task Force on Housing, Dr. Waqas Ahmed Meher Chairperson Department of Architecture BUITEMS Quetta Pak, Dr. Shariyeh Hossei, Chairperson Department of Architecture COMSATS Lahore, Dr.Fariha Tariq Acting Dean School of Architecture and Planning, UMT Lahore and Dr. M. Usman, Head of Department Structure NICE, NUST, Islamabad.
The panellists gave useful proposals to promote low cost housing in Pakistan and said that the government should consider setting up a Housing Bank to promote low cost housing for low income segments.
