The International Real Estate Investment Forum PROESTATE.Live completed its first day. For the first time in its history, the event is taking place online. It will last until 13 September. The Forum is organized by the Roscongress Foundation, the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation, the training centre of the Academy of Real Estate (ARE) and IMMERGITY.
The Forum commenced with the first 3D real estate exhibition and a busy business programme. Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities Vladimir Yakushev and Director of the PROESTATE Forum Pavel Goncharov addressed participants at the opening ceremony of the event.
“Today we are facing global challenges. Construction industry is going though both a reinvention and a transformation. The online format is giving us an opportunity to show our achievements to the whole world, share new practices, discuss new approaches, and come up with effective solutions for further development. Both the government and market players will need to address a whole set of challenges related to adapting the construction industry to new conditions. It is important to both ensure its sustainable development and boost it to achieve the country’s development goals set by the President. Without a doubt, it can only be achieved through combined efforts,” noted Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities Vladimir Yakushev.
The Forum business programme started with the opening session titled ‘Housing economy – quality of life economy’, which is part of the STRATEGY track. Experts discussed existing trends in housing construction and the importance of sustainable development in the face of urbanization and urban expansion. The following speakers shared their experience in sustainable development: Tadashi Matsumoto, Coordinator of the National Urban Policy Programme, Climate Change and Green Growth, OECD; Jian Wanrong, China’s Vice-Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Construction; and Yousef Ahmed Baselaib, Executive Director of Masdar City's Sustainable Real Estate Division and Abu Dhabi's flagship sustainable urban community Masdar City.
The event was also attended by Sherzod Hidoyatov, First Deputy Minister of Construction of the Republic of Uzbekistan; Olga Kornienko, Director of the Housing Policy Department of the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities; Yves-Laurent Sapoval, Senior Counsellor at the French Ministry of Ecological and Solidary Transition; and Alexei Raskhodchikov, Deputy Director for External Communications of Mosinzhproekt JSC (Moscow Government).
“After the legislation changed, we feared housing construction volumes would go down. However, it did not happen. Moreover, before the pandemic started the industry had been developing sustainably. In the face of the quarantine and failures driven by it, the projects that used the old rules faced challenges. It is surprising, but those who used the new rules enjoyed a net positive: there’s no cash inflow from equity construction investors, however those real estate developers still have the funds,” shared Olga Kornienko at the session.
Addressing the quality of construction, Sherzod Hidoyatov noted: “Attracting funds through businesses and introducing new mechanisms helped people who are in need of improving their living conditions to reach a new level of construction quality. Back in the day, new construction in our cities mostly belonged to the upmarket segment, while now it’s mostly affordable.”
The key event of the PROESTATE.Live business programme was the plenary session under the title ‘Development without fear: what will support the market?’. Its participants included Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities Vladimir Yakushev; Ion Ceban, Mayor of Chișinău; Artem Fedorko, Deputy CEO DOM.RF; and Elvira Galautdinova, Commercial Director of #Suvarstroit LLC. Experts discussed the following topics crucial for the industry: the ever-growing cross-impact of the housing market and the national economies, investment potential of housing and urban development projects, and the correlation between proper financing and government programmes for incentivizing the market, the quality of life and cities’ sustainable development.
On the first day of the Forum, the STRATEGY track also hosted an interactive press briefing of Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities Vladimir Yakushev and the key discussion ‘Moscow: New Reality’.
The HIGH LEVEL BUSINESS track offered a set of events pivotal for members of the business community. Their topics included introduction of integrated urban development and project financing through private housing construction escrow accounts; real estate developers’ efficiency and growth strategies under new market conditions; key risks at the commercial real estate market, as well as analysis of buyers’ preferences.
On 10 September, a set of sessions was offered under the TECHNOLOGY track. The industry professionals discussed the role of technologies and PropTech in particular for today’s real estate market. They also addressed ways, opportunities and limitations in relation to buying real estate online, as well as correlation between technologies, business processes, and accounting systems.
“Robots will not perform, if business processes don’t. All technologies used by for housing property need a good accounting system. I am confident that government contracts will soon target advancements in technologies related to accounting systems. I am referring to land registry and document workflow, which are associated with specific sites, and checklists. It is difficult for someone who has come up with a development and a ready-made solution to pursue the project independently. You begin to reflect and work on the idea, and the system starts altering the business processes,” said Partner at PROPTECH.RF Kirill Malyshev at the ‘PropTech: Lessons From 2020’ key session.
The KNOWLEDGE conference hall hosted training seminars for real estate professionals on basic principles of extended deals, the importance of marketing for sales and ways to make a residential complex most attractive.
The BUSINESS FOR PEOPLE track focused on the topics important for the end user of real estate services. This track offered online seminars for real estate buyers on specific features of remote mortgage deals and optimal timing for buying an apartment in a new residential complex.
The first online real estate exhibition opened on the first day of the Forum. Participants and visitors can explore the 3D space and learn about the achievements of Russian and international industries, as well as most notable real estate projects.
The exhibition offers stands of the largest real estate and construction companies, associations, consulting and law firms, representatives of the banking industry, digital agencies and IT companies, architecture bureaus, as well as manufacturers of construction materials, training centres, and property management and engineering companies. They include Mosinzhproekt, YugStroyImperial, DomClick, ANT DEVELOPMENT, Accent Capital, and many others.
The Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation, the Government of Moscow, and regional authorities present their own interactive 3D stands.
PROESTATE.Live partners include: Official Partner – Mosinzhproekt; Partners – ANT Development and YugStroyImperial; Official Session Partners – A101 and Colliers International Group Inc.; Session Partner – Cushman & Wakefield; exhibitors – Miele CIS, Accent Capital, Merakom, pro.rent, Becar Asset Management, Hua Hin MM Group, Marden Property, and SmartDeal.
Official website of the event: proestate.ru/en.
For outcomes of the event’s key sessions and discussions go to: proestate.ru/news.
