HM King of Bahrain to patronise 5th Arab Housing Conference

Manama, Dec. 8 (BNA): Bahrain is set to host the 5th Arab Housing Conference on Tuesday, December 11. Held under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the conference is organised by the Ministry of Housing in cooperation with the Arab Housing and Construction Ministers’ Council. Arab housing ministers, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Maimunah Mohd Sharif, and the representatives of parties that are interested in the housing sector and sustainable development from Bahrain and abroad will attend the conference. Themed “the Future Role of the Public Sector in Social Housing”, the two-day event will discuss four main topics, namely the revision of housing policies and programmes that support sustainable urban development, the mechanisms to enhance the role of the private sector in the provision of social housing projects, facilitating the citizen's access to appropriate financing for housing ownership, and the experiences of countries that have adopted partnership initiatives with the private sector. Overall, the conference aims to shed light on the role of the public sector in providing social housing, in addition to the future roles to be played by the private sector in providing social housing. The conference will be followed by the 35th session of the Arab Housing and Construction Minister, which will be held here under the chairmanship of Bahrain.