UK co interested in Pak housing sector

Tuesday, December 15, 2009
By our correspondent

ISLAMABAD: A UK-based construction company has expressed interest in investing in Pakistan’s housing sector.

A three-member delegation of UK’s DSF Building Solutions, headed by Richard Rickards, along with Anjum Jaura, Board of Investment’s Honorary Investment Counsellor in Switzerland, visited the BoI and met Tariq Iqbal Puri, Secretary Ministry of Investment and BOI. They discussed the proposal for construction of affordable and prefabricated houses.

A detailed presentation was given on opportunities available in Pakistan with special reference to the housing sector, a statement said on Monday.

Tariq Iqbal highlighted investment policy parameters in the country and said the policy allowed 100 per cent foreign equity in major sectors and full repatriation of profits and dividends in all sectors.

The delegation was told that average rate of return was almost 30 per cent and in some cases up to 50 per cent. Currently, the backlog of houses stands at seven million and is continuously increasing.

The delegation said DSF Building Solutions brought fast-track construction solutions to a wider global market, particularly in the developing world where the requirement for high-volume housing and sustainable urbanisation needed straight-forward, cost-efficient and locally-sourced solutions.

Prefabricated houses provided by DSF were durable, fully recyclable, storm and earthquake-resistant, energy efficient and prepared with locally sourced materials, it said.

They said they could provide prefabricated houses according to local requirements and conditions.