Vision Tech has launched a large-scale investment in the Pakistani real estate market. To overcome the digital divide in real estate, the company will develop Shaariq.com, an online portal. The full-stack approach developed by Vision Tech will digitise the process of buying, selling, renting, and managing a property and provide new, unique services such as property registration and online rental agreements.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has often emphasized the importance of Pakistan’s real estate and technology sectors as engines of economic development, modernization, and prosperity. The decision of Vision Tech to invest in Pakistan reflects the Prime Minister’s attention on both of these areas, and it bodes well for buyers, sellers, brokers, and municipalities alike.
The rationalization of Pakistan’s real estate market has been delayed by artificial price inflation and frauds, such as the sale of a same property to several bidders. Shaariq.com will list verified and approved properties and give purchasers the option of dealing with brokerage agents who have been trained and given a unique registration number by Shaariq.com, increasing trust amongst all parties involved in the transaction. The company is also in talks to tie up with municipalities to reduce reliance on excessive paperwork and enhance transparency.
“Shaariq.com will bring much-needed digitalization to an extremely fractured industry. Real estate stakeholders have largely operated in a non-transparent, low-trust ecosystem that left much to be desired. Vision Tech hopes to leverage its expertise in an organized market like the UAE to unlock its massive untapped potential in the Pakistan real estate sector. Pakistan’s rapid population growth, high internet penetration, tech-savvy young generation, and government-helmed initiatives have inspired Vision Tech’s big bet”, said Rajab Virani, CEO, Vision Tech.
Additionally, the newly passed Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA) Bill facilitates the admission of a visionary like Vision Tech. Shaariq.com is expected to launch as part of the Special Technology Zones (STZ) framework, which is heavily focused on real estate. Mr. Rajab Ali Virani, CEO of Vision Tech, was in Dubai for the STZA investors event, where Pakistan President Dr. Arif Alvi advocated further blockchain usage and asked the developer community to become involved.
“President Alvi’s advocacy is consistent with Vision Tech’snear-future plans to utilize its expertise in blockchain to supercharge Pakistan’s digitalization. Currently, through Shaariq.com, we are gearing up to train 50,000 real estate agents in line with global standards and register them. This is Vision Tech’s attempt at addressing the global skills shortage, which could leave 85 million jobs unfilled worldwide by 2030”, he added.
The investment by Vision Tech also shows the rise in business R&D spending following the pandemic. This year, global R&D spending is likely to top $2.3 trillion, with STZA set to receive a large chunk of that. Pakistan’s increase in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index – where it rose 28 places in the most recent edition – will undoubtedly help its prospects.
STZA’s incentives, such as subsidised land and utilities, high-speed internet, one-window facilitation, and fiscal reforms, are expected to entice leading foreign companies like Vision Tech, which has a proven track record in a variety of industries including real estate, Big Data, banking, hospitality, media, education, and healthcare. Shaariq.com’s launch is an early evidence that Pakistan’s growth policies are paying off. It would re-energize a potential sector while also speeding up the bigger digital transformation effort, bringing Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ‘Naya Pakistan’ vision closer to fruition.
