Saudi Arabia will offer foreign and local property developers partnership deals in a housing construction programme with a target to build 1.5mn homes over the next seven or eight years, according to the Majed Al-Hogail, Housing Minister. Under the programme, the real estate developer would bear the risk, design the products in line with the market demand, while the Ministry would provide necessary support in the form of providing information and helping arrange for financing. This comes under a wider plan to empower the private sector to take a more “prime role,” while the Ministry takes a more regulatory one. (Reuters)