KARACHI, Aug 1: The 11th three-day Saarc seminar-workshop, organized under the auspices of the Council for Works and Housing Research (CWHR), federal ministry of science and technology, will be held here from Aug 5-7.

It will provide opportunities in defining the role of research and development institutions and in assessing the potential and prospects of interactive mechanism between NGOs and CBOs, said the Chairman of the CWHR, N. H. Taqvi, at a press briefing on the role, expected outcome and scope of the saarc seminar-workshop, titled “Role of R&D Institutions for Introduction of Appropriate Technologies for Low-Cost Housing/Shelter in the Saarc Region” at a local hotel on Thursday.

“Except for India, all six Saarc countries have confirmed their participation in the seminar-workshop,” he said, adding that the conference would provide ample opportunities for the regional countries to prepare their housing policies, keeping in view the economic conditions of their peoples.

He said, according to the 1998 census, there were 19.3 million residential units in the country, of which 67.7 per cent were in rural and 32.3 per cent in urban areas.

He said to provide housing facilities to a large number of shelterless people 5.7 million low-cost houses were needed, adding that the government had decided to build 500,000 houses annually.

Talking about the salient features of the conference, Mr Taqvi said it was being held to define the role of R&D institutions for introducing appropriate technologies for low-cost housing in the light of the experience of the member countries of Saarc.—PPI