President Lee Jae-kwang of Korea Urban Housing Guarantee Corp.(HUG).

The Korea Urban Housing Guarantee Corp. (HUG) signed an MOU with Urban Institute on the exchange of cooperation in housing policies and housing finance on Nov. 12 in Washington.

The two institutions are slated to exchange information on each other’s housing policies and housing finance on a regular basis and cooperate on holding international meetings and research based on the MOU.

HUG, in particular, plans to conduct exchanges and cooperate with the Housing Finance Policy Center on U.S. housing finance and policy data for use in setting up housing policies and housing finance in Korea.

The Housing Finance Policy Center conducts research on housing policies and finance for Urban Institute.

President Lee Jae-kwang of HUG said he expects the MOU to go a long way in facilitating diverse advanced housing policies and finance that would be helpful to setting up domestic housing and finance policies.

HUG will boost its cooperation with international research institution on housing policies to strengthen its research capacity on the welfare housing for general public to fulfill its original mission and spur the revitalization of urban renewal, the CEO said.

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The Malaysian government is planning to set up a housing guarantee corporation to protect buyers, and is considering the introduction of a Korean style housing guarantee system.

The Korean Housing Guarantee Corporation (KHGC) announced that it recently held a meeting with Malaysian officials from the Ministry of Urban Well¬being, Housing and Local Government including its minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan at Putrajaya.

At the meeting, Malaysian delegates shared their intention to set up a guarantee institution in Malaysia similar to the KHGC, and asked for cooperation related to its operation, from the foundation process to business strategies.

Like Korea, the Malaysian housing market is based on an advanced purchase system, in which buyers pay in advance before the completion of construction work. However, without a guarantee system, buyers’ property rights are damaged when housing projects are abandoned.

The Malaysian housing guarantee corporation would operate under the supervision of the government, which would hold 70 percent equity with the remaining 30 per cent being held by the private sector.

The corporation would provide guarantees to buyers to guarantee compensation in situations where housing projects are abandoned.

Vice Pres. Kim Tae-bok , 3rd R, is joined by officials of the Bogota Development Finance Corp. for a recent photo session after signing an MOU in Bogota, Columbia.