Date: December 12-13, 2007
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Organized by: Arab Monetary Fund, World Bank, International Finance Corporation
Target audience: Insurance practitioners and supervisors from the East Asia region.
Contact: Demet Cabbar
Description: Housing represents a key engine of economic growth and is a major component of household wealth. Housing finance, therefore, lies at the intersection of three areas of priority for countries in the Middle East region: (i) a strengthened and more accessible financial sector; (ii) an expanding housing market, and (iii) an essential part of urban shelter strategy for the poor. Opportunities arise with the evolution of the Middle Eastern financial sector, and housing demand remains strong. New risk management, funding tools, and policy instruments are developed to expand sound and more accessible housing finance markets. The past few years have witnessed further growth and changes in housing finance markets. Policymakers, regulators, financiers, and investors recognize the increasing importance of housing investment, and the specificities and risks of long-term housing finance systems.
Format: The workshop aims to address many of the challenges facing financial policymakers and practitioners dealing with housing finance. In many countries, housing finance systems are small, unstable and fragmented. Because of weak property titling and registration systems and other factors, an excessive proportion of these assets cannot be used as collateral for housing finance. Lack of access to housing finance in turn makes housing unaffordable for much of the population. At the same time—because of the serious difficulty in gaining access to housing finance and frequent housing supply distortions leading to high housing prices—participants in these markets perceive a greater need for subsidies, while lenders face higher exposures to risk. The conference responds to the critical need among financial sector officials and practitioners for a systematic discussion about the development of strong housing finance markets. It will address step-by-step the process of building a housing finance system. The program will combine presentations from experts with panels and discussions to explore individual country experiences.
Draft agenda
Registration: Participation in this event is by invitation only. For further information, please contact Demet Cabbar.
