KARACHI: Pakistan has created its first Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) after a span of six years, as the country tries to improve its regulatory environment and provide incentives to the domestic construction industry.
The REIT was set up by Arif Habib Dolmen REIT Management Limited, which launched a similar initiative in Pakistan in 2015.
“We have created the Silk Islamic Development REIT last month,” Muhammad Ejaz, chief executive officer of the company, told Arab News over the phone from Toronto, Canada. “The process for the creation of Silk World Islamic REIT is also underway.”
The company is planning to raise about Rs8 billion ($50 million) through private placements in both REITs for housing projects in Karachi’s Surjani area where about 146 acres of land will be developed into commercial and residential units.
“As far as our planning is concerned, we are surveying the market to identify the right product time and the optimal product mix. Once that is done, we will engage our product designer,” Ejaz said.
The company is hoping to offer the two REITs for sales within 18 months, following the completion of regulatory approvals, property transfers, market study and environment impact assessment.
“The whole process of approval, including the NOCs [No Objection Certificates] and environmental impact studies, is expected to take around nine to 10 months. We are confident to introduce this in the market within 12 to 18 months,” he said.
Asked about the expected returns on investment, Ejaz said the company was targeting between 18 and 25 percent of internal rate of return (IRR).
The existing Arif Habib Dolmen City REIT, which owns Karachi’s prominent Dolmen Mall and office tower, has announced a dividend yield of Rs1.24 per unit or 12.4 percent for the year that ended June 30, 2021, according to a company announcement.
Pakistan is currently facing an overall housing backlog of 10-12 million units. To fill the widening gap, Prime Minister Imran Khan had promised to construct five million houses and offer various incentives to the construction sector to achieve the target.
These incentives were announced in April 2020 and included a tax amnesty scheme for the construction sector that barred the authorities from questioning investors, builders and buyers about their sources of income if they put cash in the real estate business.
Ejaz said the government had substantially encouraged development activities in the country which had invited huge interest from investors.
“There are three major factors behind our decision to launch these REIT: The first is the facilitation of the central bank that has made it easier for other banks to participate in the real estate sector; the second is the amended regulatory framework by the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan which has created a conducive business environment; and the third is the Federal Board of Revenue’s decision to reduce the disadvantage of REIT as compared to the other informal construction sector,” Ejaz said.
Analysts say REITs offer huge investment opportunities to those who find it difficult to benefit from the real estate sector due to high prices.
“REITs are transparent and documented investment instruments that are made available in capital markets which encourage commoners to invest amid astronomically high real estate values,” Samiullah Tariq, director research at the Pakistan-Kuwait Investment, told Arab News on Monday, adding that it was important to rationalize the country’s tax structure to make REITs more attractive.
Pakistan planning first real estate investment trust in six years
https://arab.news/286pw
Pakistan planning first real estate investment trust in six years
- REIT set up by Arif Habib Dolmen REIT Management Limited, which launched similar initiative in 2015
- Approval process expected to take less than year, top official says REIT to be introduced in market within 12 to 18 months
Imran Khan’s party warns government against shifting him to hospital without informing family, physicians
- Pakistan’s government said on Saturday it would shift Khan to a hospital, form medical board for eye treatment amid outcry over health concerns
- Commencing any medical examination or treatment of Khan in absence of family, physicians will be in violation of constitution, jail rules, says party
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party this week warned the government against shifting him to a hospital for treatment without informing his family and physicians, saying such a move would be in violation of the constitution and jail rules.
The PTI’s response came after the government announced on Saturday that it has decided to transfer the jailed former prime minister from the Central Prison in Rawalpindi to a hospital and form a medical board for his eye treatment.
The developments follow a report submitted to the Supreme Court by a lawyer appointed as a “friend of the court” who was asked to visit Khan at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail earlier this month. The report said the 73-year-old had suffered severe vision loss in his right eye due to central retinal vein occlusion, leaving him with only 15 percent sight in the affected eye.
The report’s findings triggered a sit-in by an opposition alliance, including members of Khan’s PTI, outside Parliament House in Islamabad, who demanded his immediate transfer to Islamabad’s Al-Shifa Hospital. Khan was also allowed to speak to his sons for about 20 minutes, according to his family, despite the former premier’s limited interactions with his family and legal team in recent months due to restrictions that the PTI has challenged in court.
“The party’s stance in this regard is clear: transferring Imran Khan to any location without informing his family and physicians or commencing any medical examination or treatment in their absence, is a grave violation of the Constitution of Pakistan and jail rules,” the PTI said in a statement issued late Saturday.
“This will not be acceptable under any circumstances.”
The party said it rejects “any form of secrecy” around Khan’s health, adding that hiding facts about it would be tantamount to putting the former premier’s health at risk.
The PTI said Khan’s medical examinations and treatments should be ensured immediately in the presence of his personal physicians and at least one member of his family.
“Furthermore, it is essential that this process be conducted independently under the supervision of reputable doctors and hospitals recommended by the party,” it said.
“The government will be held entirely responsible for the consequences of any secretive or unilateral action.”
‘GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSIBILITY’
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said on Saturday that the government gives priority to humanitarian considerations and legal requirements.
“Providing facilities to every prisoner in accordance with the law is the government’s responsibility,” Chaudhry wrote on social media.
Meanwhile, Khan’s lawyers on Saturday filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court seeking suspension of a Dec. 20, 2025 conviction in a graft case involving state gifts, arguing that continued incarceration during the pendency of the appeal would result in a grave miscarriage of justice.
The petition says the judgment is under substantive legal challenge and requests suspension of the sentence until the appeal is decided, a remedy available under Pakistani law when serious questions are raised about a conviction.
Khan, who was ousted from office via a parliamentary vote in April 2022, has been in jail since August 2023 after his conviction on a slew of charges he says are politically motivated.
The opposition alliance has vowed to continue its sit-in outside Parliament House until Khan is shifted to the hospital.
