Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
News from the Jeddah Economic Forum (JEF), a key member of the organizing committee of the forum, Abdullah Sadiq Dahlan, warned attendees the housing situation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a potential threatening crisis.
Sunday March 17, the first session of the Jeddah Economic Forum
In the opening remarks of session one of the form, Dahlan pointed to figures illustrating just how under-served the population of his country are where affordable housing is concerned. His figures show a third of Saudis live in inadequate facilities, and that nearly 70 percent of the population there is searching out affordable places to live even today.
Most of the population of Saudi Arabia stay in major cities such as Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. This Arab News story tells more of the JEF Forum and Housing Minister Shuwaish Al-Duwaihi's suggestion an interlinked housing rental office is coming, and that even though 60 percent of Saudi's own homes, the problem for the rest of the Kingdom still exists.
Meanwhile, other participants of JEF urged descion makers to make cities "smarter", meaning ensuring cities are capable of serving the every changing need of their citizenry. One such attending expert, Dr. Liu Thai Ker, who was instrumental in Singapore's housing renewal win, suggested cities need not only the engines and tools for change, but the ecology, education, and infrastructures to back up the needed changes.
Among the distinguished speakers at this year's JEF are; Ad Buisman, Head of Real Estate in for Europe, the Middle East, India, and Africa for Ernst & Young; Mansour Amer, Founder and Chair of Amer Group, Egypt; and HRH Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, Governor of the Makkah Region; among the many others.
For more information about JEF 2013 readers should visit the links prescribed or via their YouTube Channel.
