WASHINGTON D.C.--With many important challenges and developments in valuation and construction in the Caribbean – in both the private and government sectors – land and property professionals from around the region and beyond will convene in Jamaica next month to explore current issues, discuss possible solutions and opportunities, and learn from each other and the many experts who will present.
The 4th Annual RICS/IPTI Valuation and Construction Conference, “Challenges and Recent Developments in Valuation and Construction-Adaptation, Innovation and Best Practices,” will convene at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa in Montego Bay, November 18-19.
Among the key topics and challenges the conclave will address are:
* International Property Measurement Standards;
* Risk assurance, current issues and recent trends in construction;
* The need for national valuation standards;
* The Valuer Registration scheme and its implications for the Caribbean; and
* Risks in the procurement process in the Caribbean.
Featured speakers will include Fellow, Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS) and Chief Executive Officer and Commissioner of Lands, the National Land Agency of Jamaica, Elizabeth Stair; Director of Strategic Relations & Communications, Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting, Christopher Barlow; RICS Jamaica Chapter Committee Chair and Commissioner of Land Valuations, National Land Agency, Jamaica Eric Allen FRICS; Director of Land Group, RICS, United Kingdom, James Kavanagh MRICS; and Global Director of Valuation, RICS, UK, Ben Elder FRICS. Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change of Jamaica Robert Pickersgill will open the conference.
“Jamaica is proud to once again be hosting the Caribbean’s premiere event for land professionals from across the sectors: the annual RICS-IPTI conference,” says Stair. “With all that is happening in the regional and world economy, it will be very opportune to take a look at important topics such as new International Property Measurement Standards, the need for national valuation standards, risk assurance in construction and the Caribbean procurement process, and current issues and trends in construction.” Stair will speak on how merging four land-related departments improved land governance in Jamaica.
In the broader economic picture, tight government budgets have seen the re-emergence of property taxes as a crucial element of local government financing, which gives IPTI’s role – in this conference and the region – even greater importance. And rapid advances in mapping technology provide unprecedented opportunities for small developing states to leapfrog cadastral mapping, which has proved very expensive but is also seen as crucial to the operation of modern property markets. ~ Caribbean360 ~
