A four-day 'REHAB Fair Chattogram-2023' will kick off at the port city's Radisson Blu Hotel on Thursday, with the slogan 'Dream home in green Bangladesh'.
A total of 48 stalls of real estate and housing companies, including two gold sponsors and 17 co-sponsoring institutions (six banks and five building material manufacturers), are participating in the fair.
Land Minister Saifujjaman Chowdhury Javed will attend the inaugural function of the fair as the chief guest, while Mayor of Chattogram City Corporation Rezaul Karim Chowdhury and Chairman of Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) Zahirul Alam Dovash and President of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) Mahbubul Alam will attend the event as special guests.
The fair will remain open to visitors from 10:00am to 8:00pm daily until February 26.
Marking the fair, a press conference was held at REHAB Chattogram office on Wednesday where Chairman of REHAB's Chattogram regional committee and Vice President of its central committee Abdul Qyuaium Chowdhury read out a written statement.
Mr Chowdhury said, "REHAB previously arranged a total of 14 fairs in Chattogram. We are going to arrange the 15th edition of the fair tomorrow (Thursday)."
The housing sector is contributing around 15 per cent to the national growth, he said. "But this industry is now facing an acute crisis mainly due to the rise in land prices, price hike of construction materials, lack of power and gas supply, and the absence of a long-term plan of the government."
As a result, investors and clients are gradually showing a lack of interest in the industry, he told the press.
Mr Chowdhury also called upon the government to ensure gas and power connections to new housing projects for the greater interest of the industry.
