Saudi Housing Minister Meets Egyptian Real Estate Developers

The Egyptian Minister of Housing and his Saudi counterpart, with the head of the Talaat Moustafa group. (Photo: Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Egyptian Minister of Housing and his Saudi counterpart, with the head of the Talaat Moustafa group. (Photo: Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Housing Minister Meets Egyptian Real Estate Developers

The Egyptian Minister of Housing and his Saudi counterpart, with the head of the Talaat Moustafa group. (Photo: Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Egyptian Minister of Housing and his Saudi counterpart, with the head of the Talaat Moustafa group. (Photo: Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Egyptian-African Businessmen Association (EABA) organized an intensive meeting on Saturday in Cairo to discuss opportunities for real estate development in the Kingdom.

The meeting was attended by Majid Al-Hogail, Saudi Minister of Housing, Dr. Essam bin Saad bin Saeed, Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah, and Engineer Mohamed Albuty, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Housing Company, along with the EABA Construction and Building Committee, headed by Engineer Mahmoud Hegazy and a group of senior Egyptian real estate developers.

The Saudi side gave a detailed presentation of the Kingdom’s achievements over the past six years in the housing sector, emphasizing the role of the National Housing Company in this regard.

“All of this contributed to the growth of the volume of financing for real estate projects from 30 billion riyals to nearly 380 billion riyals during the last 5 years,” Al-Hogail said, pointing to the increasing demand on the integrated housing system implemented by Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi minister affirmed his full support for Egyptian real estate developers’ endeavor to work within the Kingdom, saying that Saudi Arabia was “proud of the Egyptian expertise and ready to strengthen cooperation in this field.”

For his part, Dr. Yousri El-Sharqawy, head of the Egyptian-African Businessmen Association, stressed that the Kingdom has provided a pioneering model in real estate development.

He added that the EABA was looking forward to establishing joint investments between the private sector and real estate developers under the auspices of the two countries’ leaderships.

On Friday, Eng. Hisham Talaat Moustafa, CEO and Managing Director of Talaat Moustafa Group, received the Saudi minister and his Egyptian counterpart, and the accompanying Saudi delegation, on a tour inside the city of Madinaty in New Cairo.



Pakistan Set to Receive $20 Billion Loan From World Bank

FILE PHOTO-People wait for their turn to buy low-priced bun-kabab from a shop in Karachi, Pakistan June 10, 2022. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro
FILE PHOTO-People wait for their turn to buy low-priced bun-kabab from a shop in Karachi, Pakistan June 10, 2022. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro
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Pakistan Set to Receive $20 Billion Loan From World Bank

FILE PHOTO-People wait for their turn to buy low-priced bun-kabab from a shop in Karachi, Pakistan June 10, 2022. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro
FILE PHOTO-People wait for their turn to buy low-priced bun-kabab from a shop in Karachi, Pakistan June 10, 2022. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

Pakistan is set to receive a loan of $20 billion from the World Bank over the next 10 years, aimed at improving the country’s key sectors, sources told Geo News on Saturday.

According to sources in the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the loan will be part of the World Bank's support under the Country Partnership Framework 2025-35, which focuses on sustainable economic development.

The loan is expected to be approved by the WB's Board of Directors on January 14. Once approved, Martin Raiser, the lender's Vice President, is expected to visit Islamabad to discuss the loan program and its implementation.

In addition to the $20 billion, two subsidiary entities of the World Bank will assist Pakistan in securing another $20 billion in private loans.

This would bring the total financial package to $40 billion, which will be allocated towards infrastructure development, climate resilience projects, and improving social services.

Meanwhile, The News newspaper reported that the government, in its bid to achieve an economic revival, has launched the National Economic Transformation Plan which aims to achieve ambitious economic targets, including doubling GDP growth and halving poverty over a five-year period.

The plan envisages attracting $29 billion anticipated investment under the supervision of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) including $10 billion from the UAE, $5 billion from Saudi Arabia, $2 billion from Qatar, $2 billion from Azerbaijan, and $10 billion from Kuwait.

Meanwhile, the gross domestic product (GDP) target has been set at 6% of the GDP till the Fiscal Year 2028-29 whereas the per capita income in dollar terms is projected to go up to $2,405 from $1,680.