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KARACHI, Jun 07 (APP):Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Friday, proposed to establish a real estate regulatory authority (RERA) in Pakistan like other regional countries.
President FPCCI, Atif Ikram Sheikh, in a statement issued here, stressed that no sector could perform at its optimum and contribute to the national economy in absence of a regulatory authority, so initiatives in the regard should be taken in consultation with the relevant stakeholders.
Sheikh highlighted that the Sindh government collects infrastructure cess on import stage at 1.25 percent; which translates into Rs225 billion per year. If the cess spent on the infrastructural development and maintenance the real estate of Karachi will be in a much better shape and its market will also pick up, he added.
Senior Vice President FPCCI, Saquib Fayyaz Magoon, maintained that real estate can help bring more foreign exchange to the country in the form of remittances. The sector should make it as their top agenda to attract investment from the overseas Pakistanis as it will also help the economy through stabilizing rupee-dollar parity and shore up the foreign exchange reserves (FER), he added.
For the sake of policy advocacy in the national interest, any sector that can contribute to inward remittances should be facilitated and encouraged, he argued adding that the government should enable and welcome overseas Pakistanis to invest back in their home country instead of investing in the real estate of other countries.
Convener of FPCCI’s Central Standing Committee on Real Estate Property and Builders, Syed Saquib Shah, stressed on digitization of registration system in order to bring transparency, fairness and validity in the documentation of the properties.
Karachi should also get e-stamp system at the earliest like Punjab he added and emphasized that taxes should be imposed on the property owners instead of the real estate agents who provide services to buyers and sellers.