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New real estate policy for foreign investors soon: Kakar - CMY - 06-04-2008 11:15 AM
New real estate policy for foreign investors soon: Kakar
KARACHI: Federal Minister for Housing and Works Rehmatullah Kakar has said that the government is working on a new real estate policy which would be foreign investors friendly with reduced taxes and special incentives for them.
During an oath-taking and investiture ceremony of the United Defence Clifton Estate Agents Association (UDCEAA), he informed that the government has made a 10-year building plan according to which all those foreign investors who are willing to invest in Pakistan would have safe and secure policies after which they can invest without fear.
He added that the government has decided that for all those who do not have enough money to invest and yet are interested in making an investment, a third party (bank) would facilitate the finances upon the government’s guarantee.
Kakar stated that the government was planning several ‘two rooms plus bath’ housing projects for the poverty-driven people of the country, for which they have reached the final stage of discussion.
He said that the various housing projects would be built in towns such as Quetta, Rawalpindi, Sukkur, Hyderabad etc with the help of foreign investors and the letter of intention for this project has already been signed with Iran, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and several more countries.
He added that further facilities may be provided to the extremely poor families like free or subsidised utilities and low rent. The Federal Minister went on to say that the government was worried about the rising costs of construction materials and was thinking of ways to curb the sky rocketing prices.
Kakar further said that some codes of conduct are also going to be made, after advice and suggestions from the real estate agents, to help the people invest according to the laws of Pakistan.
He added that like in Europe, there are solicitors, Pakistan also plans to have legal representatives for all real estate transactions so that all the deals are made according to law and there are no gaps left for an undocumented economy. To a question from The News, Kakar said that he could not comment on whether Capital Gains Tax (CGT) would be implemented on real the estate sector or not and it was the concern of the revenue department to implement new taxes.
Replying to another question regarding the environmental hazards controversies surrounding some international projects, the federal minister elucidated that new laws have been passed where a project cannot be started unless they obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Ministry of Environment, thereby shelving all controversial projects and discouraging new ones from coming up.
UDCEAA President, Raja Mazhar highlighted the problems that they face to the minister, such as the legal registration of real estate agents with the government to accelerate their profession and the varying fees from locality to locality of the concerned registration.
He further appealed to the government that if there are any complaints regarding any real estate agents or their agencies, then complains should be filed to the concerned registered associations before any action is taken by another body.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=116262