BAGUIO CITY – The snowballing demand for housing in India because of the rapid increase in their population has forced the government to invite Filipino housing developers in order to assist in addressing their growing housing backlog, Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Lalduhthlana Ralte said here recently.
Ambassador Ralte met with officials of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) Baguio-Benguet Chapter to explore possibilities of potential partnerships between Indian and Filipino businessmen for the operation of businesses to generate local employment opportunit6ies and bringing to India qualified local housing developers.
“India has a rapidly increasing housing backlog and our existing developers are not able to meet the housing demand that is why we need to invite interested housing developers from other countries to help us address our housing backlog,” Ralte stressed.
India is the second most populated country in the global village with a population of roughly 1.252 billion inhabitants or only around 120 million lower than the population of China which is the highest in the world at around 1.37 billion.
Ambassador Ralte disclosed the Indian government prefers to work with Filipino housing developers because of their excellent performance in the local housing indi9stry that earned the respect of foreign governments to their works.
According to him, the Indian embassy will be conducting consultations with local housing developers in the coming months in order to thresh out the issues and concerns regarding their expected works in the foreign nation so that all prescribed barriers will be addressed prior to their participation in the building of additional homes in India.
He refused to divulge the real housing backlog in India although he said that the housing need of the people is rapidly increasing due to the continuous increase in their country’s population.
The Indian envoy believes the entry of Filipino housing developers to their country will greatly contribute in significantly reducing their housing backlog and will contribute in setting the example for Indian housing developers to emulate.
He cited even housing developers in Baguio and Benguet are also invited to participate in future undertakings that will be conducted by the Indian embassy to entice qualified Filipino housing developers to be able to work in India for them to be able to get substantial experience in the international scene, particularly in the building of houses and the global construction industry.
Ambassador Ralte said based on initial reports that the Indian embassy gathered in relation to the performance of Filipino housing developers, local contractors are reliable, dependable and competent in the implementation of their assigned works that is why they prefer to partner with them in order to empower Indian housing developers to be resilient in their works.
He explained the future partnership between Indian and Filipino housing developers will be good for the country’s economy because it will result to the increased of overseas employment opportunities for the country’s labor force and will contribute in stabilizing the country’s dollar reserves. By Dexter A. See
