News

Minister of Public Works and Housing and Abu-Ghazaleh Discuss Housing Solutions in Jordan

14-Mar-2017

Special to TAG Educa News Agency

AMMAN – HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org), and HE Eng. Sami Halaseh, Minister of Public Works and Housing, reviewed work progress and achievements in the preparation of the evaluation study of the housing sector in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

The study represents the main pillar in developing an executive work plan that includes solutions to challenges facing the housing sector in the country.

At the beginning of the meeting, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh welcomed the attendees stressing on the need to focus on the direct and indirect social impacts of the housing sector; which is one of the economic sectors that mostly affect citizens.

He also advised that the study should precisely identify citizens' housing needs, and should address the gap between housing supply and demand to find solutions that would provide safe, healthy, and sustainable housing for citizens.

The meeting was attended by the Director General of the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDC) HE Mr. Faris Al-Junaidi, Eng. May Asfour from the Corporation, Ms. Laila Tashamneh from the Ministry of Public Works, and the team working on the preparation of the study from Talal Abu-Ghazaleh & Co. Consulting.
Both the Minister of Public Works and Housing and the Director General of the Corporation highlighted the fundamental points in connection with the status quo of the housing sector's activity that would be deeply studied, including the most prominent current changes, and the economic and housing indicators related to the scope of the study. 

The workflow reviewed the most prominent strategic aspects of the study as well as the methodological framework followed in order to make the study comprehensive of all dimensions of the housing sector, especially, the economic, social, demographic, legislative, financial, and engineering dimensions, and the aspects of urban planning, land regulation, housing supply and demand, and requirements for sustainable construction.  
The attendees discussed the analytical tools that would be used to identify the opportunities and challenges related to these aspects to eventually find a set of effective solutions.

It is worth mentioning that a number of workshops will be held in February and March to review and analyze the outcomes of the study, and meetings with representatives of the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, the World Bank, the Housing Investors Society, and the financial institutions concerned with housing finance will be also held.