December 1, 2019

Inauguration of the 3rd International Conference for Cooperative Housing

On behalf of Dr. Assem El Gazar – Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities; Eng. Khaled Abbass - Deputy Minister of Housing for National Projects inaugurated the opening session for the 3rd International Conference for Cooperative Housing “Towards Sustainable Cooperatives” which entitled “the role of the cooperative housing in the plan of the sustainable development 2030”organized by the General Authority for Building and Housing Cooperatives on the period from 1st to 4th December in Cairo Hilton Heliopolis under the patronage of Dr. Moustafa Madbouli – the Prime Minister. Dr. Assem El Gazar – Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities stated in his speech given by Eng. Khaled Abbass - Deputy Minister of Housing on his behalf that the Egyptian Government is currently implementing great number of mega national projects in the fields of infrastructure (new networks for roads, bridges and tunnels, huge power generation plant) aiming at achieving the comprehensive development all over Egypt. The Minister declared that the Egyptian state has built tens of new cities across the country to accommodate the growing demand for housing; besides the beginning of establishing a group of 4th generation cities, such as: the New Administrative Capital, New El Alamein City which provide an unprecedented qualitative and cultural shift. At the same time, these cities provide part of the utilized lands of it to the projects of cooperative housing; the investors and companies of the private sector participate in the reconstruction of these new and distinguished cities. Dr. Assem El Gazar pointed out that the efforts of all sectors (public, private and cooperative) should be interlacing; each one of them should work by the available tools in synchronization within a comprehensive ambitious plan proceeding time to meet the current requirements of the inhabitants; at the same time looks at the future needs and employ it to contribute in the reconstruction of the target areas of urban development. He pointed out that the state is currently working on increasing and activating the participation of the cooperative housing, the target participation rate in the coming five-year plan will be more than 30% from the annual product volume of the housing units. Dr. Hossam Rizk -Chairman of the General Authority for Construction and Housing Cooperatives explained that the conference period is 4 days, with 6 topics (sustainable cooperatives” theories, concepts and objectives”, governance and management of sustainable cooperative system, sustainable cooperative communities, economic development, sustainable cooperatives and community involvement, interactive architecture, challenges of sustainable development and developing legislative frameworks) which contribute in achieving the sustainable development for cooperatives. The program of the conference includes field visits to the New Administrative Capital and New El Alamein City, as an example of the ongoing development in Egypt regarding construction and unprecedented national projects. Dr. Hossam Rizk stated that the cooperative movement in Egypt and the whole world waiting a lot from us, we are wishing that this conference will have findings, visions and ideas contributes in establishing a clear policies for the sustainable cooperatives, in which the cooperative work integrated with its different types to provide a modern successful model appropriate with the people hopes and aspiration for having a free and decent life.