The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud received at Al-Yamamah palace here yesterday the Minister of Housing Majed bin Abdullah Al-Huqail, senior officials of the Housing Ministry and those interested in housing from public and private sectors. At the outset of the reception, they all listened to a recitation of verses from the Holy Quran. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques delivered the following speech: In the Name of Allah, The Most Merciful, The Most Compassionate, Praise be to Allah and prayer and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah Prophet Muhammad, his family, companions and followers ... Princes, Ministers and Scholars, Dear brothers, the attendance, Allah s peace, mercy and blessings be upon you. I am pleased to meet this blessed gathering, welcoming you, the Minister of Housing and the employees of the Ministry and the Real Estate Development Fund and all interested in the housing sector in the Kingdom from the public and private sectors. Brothers, Praise be to Allah Almighty, your state is on the paces of growth and development firmly adhering and maintaining its pure religion and will continue building and completing this march by continuous endeavors toward the comprehensive and balanced development across all regions of the Kingdom. The provision of suitable housing for citizens and ways for a decent life are of our priorities and my personal attention, and what has been recently issued of regulations and decisions come in this direction, as everyone is aware of what the state accords of care and attention to this sector and its allocation of huge budgets for it. Dear brothers: The state has encouraged investment in this area and enhanced the role of the private sector to be a partner complement to the government s efforts in achieving this objective, and it has also sought to find a balance between supply and demand and stimulate land owners to develop and invest in them so as to contribute to bridging the growing need for housing. In this regard, I would like to commend the efforts being exerted by the brothers in the Ministry of Housing, stressing the importance of the Ministry s continuation and its participating sectors to seek to achieve the drawn objectives and plans for the provision of suitable housing for our citizens, wishing you all success. Allah s peace, mercy and blessings be upon you. Then, the Minister of Housing delivered a speech in which he described the housing sector as one of the most important sectors for citizens to meet their aspirations. He pointed out that as the importance of private sector's participation in the development, the Ministry of Housing has been working on the partnership project with the private sector, which aims to contribute to pumping more housing units through a variety of options, high quality and favorable prices as it has signed, in this context, a number of partnerships with a range of qualified real estate development companies inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and abroad to build 180,000 residential units in all regions during a short period of time at affordable prices.
