CAIRO: Egyptian real estate developers highlighted the importance of establishing a federation for developers as they wrapped up Al-Ahram’s Real Estate Exhibition Wednesday.
The idea was first proposed by the Egyptian Junior Businessmen Association’s (EJB) real estate committee. The federation would act as an umbrella that will unify several real estate developers, committees and entities.
“It will be one way the real estate developers can monitor and organize themselves, said Hisham Shoukri, executive president and CEO of Rooya Group.
The exhibition’s panel of developers agreed that the federation should aim at protecting buyers’ rights, which will reflect positively on the market and on the industry overall.
Shoukri explained that developers are different from contractors and consultants. “We put some rules with the help of Ziad Bahaa El Din, chairman of General Authority for Financial Supervision, which are not final yet, he said.
The federation will also aim at encouraging small developers to bid for land offered by the government, while at the same time eliminating corrupt developers from the market.
Khaled Abbas, Ministry of Housing advisor, also underlined the importance of protecting the market, saying that problems with one project may affect the credibility of the market as a whole.
The new federation will also work on protecting real estate buyers’ rights, by establishing, for example, an insurance policy in case the project falls through.
However, talks of establishing a federation fueled rumors that the federation is meant to serve the developers’ interests and increase their authority.
Jasser Bahgat, managing director of Al-Sharqeyoun for Urban Development, dismissed the allegations, saying criteria should be set to select members of the federation.
Omar El-Hitamy, managing director of Orascom Housing Communities, supports the idea of establishing a federation. “It will facilitate communication with the Ministry [of Housing] and it will be in the clients’ best interest.
El-Hitamy stressed that the federation should include residential housing developers, as well as residential tourism developers, tourism developers and industrial developers.
He is also optimistic about the federation’s role in combating the practice of buying pieces of land and not developing it.
No date has been set yet to establish the federation.
