Taking a step to bridge the existing gap between the real estate industry and academia, Graana Group of Companies in collaboration with Iqbal Institute of Policy Studies (IIPS) and National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate capacity building initiatives.

The meeting held here on Wednesday was co-chaired by Group Chairman Shafiq Akbar and Principal School of Civil and Environmental Engineering (SCEE) Maj Gen Dr Tariq Mehmood (retd).

Graana Group Directors Farhan Javed and Arslan Javed, Director Agency 21 Sharjeel A Ehmer, Director Propsure Taimoor Abbasi, along with Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Omar Abedin and senior officials from NUST including Head of Department (HoD) Urban and Regional Planning Dr Waheed and Dr Irfan were also present on the occasion.

Under the initiative, the signatories pledged to work on mutually beneficial projects, along with collaborations on workshops, trainings and seminars that will take forward Graana's vision of revitalising the real estate sector.

Earlier, Graana Group and NUST also celebrated Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Day to recognise the impact of the GIS technology in major sectors worldwide, as well as the gradual increase in incorporation of the system within Pakistan.

Shafiq Akbar , Chairman Graana Group of Companies said that GIS is the future of real estate. GIS technology will be a crucial player in the field if the real estate industry is to grow and flourish, he added.

While talking about RE2020 - an action plan for Vision2030- , Shafiq Akbar said that the objective of RE2020 is to digitise the real estate sector not only to facilitate the real estate personnel but also to offer an effortless and transparent solution to investors to help them with their decision-making.