Her Excellency Ms. Amna bint Ahmed Al Rumaihi, Minister of Housing and Urban Planning, affirmed that the plans of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain in the sectors of providing social housing, planning, and urban development are primarily based on achieving sustainability standards and supporting the comprehensive development process with initiatives and projects for which the private sector has become a key driver. She noted that the goal is to provide a decent living for Bahraini citizens, who are the focus of development in the Kingdom.
Minister Amna Al Rumaihi said that the social housing sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain has become a major system that includes various parties from the public and private sectors, after the multiplicity of successful partnership models between the two sectors in recent years, which contributed to providing thousands of housing services to Bahraini families, whether through traditional paths in building cities and residential complexes, or through financing options and housing projects implemented in partnership with the private sector through the government land development rights program Noting that the joining of banks, commercial banks in the Kingdom, and real estate companies to the system of providing housing services to citizens contributed to diversifying housing options and providing immediate housing solutions, which was reflected in the sectors that achieved indirect growth as a result of the acceleration of citizens' access to their housing services.
Minister Al-Rumaihi added that the urban planning and development sector has also witnessed in recent years the achievement of many gains, most notably the completion of the preparation and implementation of 96 detailed plans, which are equivalent to 10% of the Kingdom's area, and the updating of legislation and regulations for this vital sector, which contributes to supporting social and economic paths in the Kingdom, whether by providing plans that support housing plans in the Kingdom, Or providing the necessary requirements that open broad horizons for implementing urban renewal projects throughout the Kingdom, at the public and private sector levels, thus contributing to supporting the national economy.
This came during the participation of Her Excellency Mrs. Amna bint Ahmed Al Rumaihi, Minister of Housing and Urban Planning, in the opening of the Urbanism, Home and Building Exhibition and Conference hosted by the Sultanate of Oman, which brings together an elite group of government officials, experts, real estate developers and financing institutions from various Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and aims to provide a comprehensive platform for exchanging experiences and reviewing pioneering experiences in building cities and implementing housing projects In addition to highlighting investment opportunities and strengthening strategic partnerships between various relevant parties.
The Minister of Housing and Urban Planning participated in the ministerial session entitled "Sustainable Housing Models in the GCC Countries", in the presence of His Excellency Dr. Khalfan Al Shaili, Minister of Housing and Urban Planning in the Sultanate of Oman, where the Minister reviewed the experience of the Kingdom of Bahrain in the areas of diversifying housing options provided to citizens through partnership paths with the private sector, in addition to the visions of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain in planning and developing the Kingdom's regions, especially the urban development projects implemented by the Kingdom Such as the Muharraq City Development Project and the Manama Souq Historic District Development Project.
In the social housing sector, Minister Amna Al-Rumaihi said that the partnership process with the private sector, which has diversified and diversified over the past years, has had the greatest impact on providing housing services to citizens. Since 2014, this process has provided more than 27,000 housing products that have contributed to achieving housing stability for Bahraini families, in addition to the traditional process of building the five housing cities.
The Minister explained that the housing financing path was able to provide 21,000 housing financing that contributed to housing Bahraini families immediately without waiting periods. These statistics reflect the upward growth rates in citizens' confidence in financing programs and options, which have become characterized by multiple financing purposes and diversification of financing and repayment options to suit the needs of each family.
As for partnerships with real estate development companies, this sector has only contributed to providing more than 6,000 social housing properties "directly", through the "Deira El Oyoun" project, which provided more than 3,000 housing units to beneficiaries of financing programs, as well as the contribution of real estate companies in providing more than 2,500 housing units in the Salman and Al-Lawzi City project during the past decade In addition to the projects that have been completed within the government land development rights program, such as the "Suhail" housing project in the Al-Lawzi suburb, the "Al-Naseem District" project in Salman City, the "Al-Wadi" project in the Al-Buhair area, and the "Houra Sanad" project in the Southern Governorate, as well as residential projects implemented by Housing Bank.
The Minister added that the real estate sector's contribution was not limited to direct participation in projects implemented by the Ministry and the Housing Bank, but companies also worked to increase the real estate stock by expanding housing projects and plans that serve beneficiaries of financing programs provided by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning, noting that this path will witness further growth during the next stage Whether through expanding the implementation of government land development rights program projects, most notably the project to provide more than 3,000 housing units in Khalifa City, or by working with real estate companies to increase the real estate inventory to meet the growing demand for financing services, and thus diversify the options available to citizens.
At the level of housing cities, the Minister of Housing and Urban Planning said that the ministry worked to provide dozens of housing projects by establishing the five housing cities, which are Salman City, Khalifa City, Al Hidd Housing City, Sitra Housing City, and Al Ramli Suburb Housing, which are projects that provided housing for thousands of Bahraini families, noting that the government was keen to plan these cities according to modern planning concepts, and include all the elements of quality of life This is in line with efforts to implement the eleventh goal of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030.
The Minister touched on the vital role played by urban planning in the Kingdom, explaining that providing an integrated and modern urban environment is a major factor in attracting companies and investors, noting that the Urban Planning and Development Authority is working on developing urban policies that define the features of sustainable urban growth according to the data of the National Strategic Structural Plan 2030, which came to outline the prospects for sustainable urban development in the Kingdom and define the features of urban growth for the various regions of the Kingdom Stressing keenness to keep pace with construction requirements in a way that achieves the principle of city sustainability in order to achieve the desired goals.
The Minister also pointed out that the Kingdom of Bahrain pays great attention to urban development projects, which aim to reshape the urban landscape while preserving heritage and cultural identity, referring to the esteemed government's efforts to implement the royal directive regarding the development project of the historic city of Muharraq, which is witnessing significant progress in terms of completion rates in the first phase, as well as the development project of the historic area of Manama Souq.
Her Excellency the Minister concluded her participation by emphasizing that the Kingdom of Bahrain's presence at this conference reflects its keenness to exchange experiences and expertise with sister countries, and to benefit from the best international practices in the fields of housing and urban planning. She explained that these events constitute important platforms for networking between national, regional and international expertise, which contributes to formulating common visions for building more sustainable and prosperous cities.
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