He recently participated in the Entrepreneurship Summit in the department of Chiquimula, where he spoke with entrepreneurs in the region about Cementos Progreso and their ideas on how to improve people’s lives through providing housing options.
The Infrastructure and Housing Development Unit focuses on promoting housing solutions and, in this way, actively participate in the construction of the country we want to live in.
Creating and planning the Sustainable Urban Housing Modules –Muvis– concept, is among the unit’s most outstanding achievements. To date, Muvis has more than two thousand units built in Guatemala’s capital city and Cobán; another two thousand units are in the planning and design phase.
Solares states, «Muvis-type projects come as a response to dealing with the country’s housing deficit, but it’s not enough. We must generate several responses to address the issue in a comprehensive manner, and for this we need to create a housing plan accompanied by a national policy that supports it,»
The architect is aware that the Progreso-proposed solution will bring enormous success in this matter, but at the same time he knows that only new drastic ideas will lead to continued success. «One of our great achievements is that we turn ideas into tangible and socially beneficial projects. Thanks to these idea-enabling-environments, we have materialized the dream of thousands of families. We’ll remain searching constantly for more and improved ideas that continue to provide housing solutions.»
More than 100 entrepreneurs from the eastern part of the country, participated in the Chiquimula Entrepreneurship Summit. José Antonio Solares was one of the events main speakers. In his speech, he shared Cementos Progreso’s history and how drastic ideas are fundamental to materialize and execute projects.
One of the most important processes in housing development is the convergence of different sectors to push initiatives forward. Government, developers, financial institutions and service providers are key to guaranteeing a decent and sustainable housing policy for the population.
“Informality in the country’s financial system is a real challenge. Laws, such as the leasing law and the modifications to the regulations of the Instituto de Fomento de Hipotecas Aseguradas -FHA- (Promotion of Insured Mortgages), have faced it with great accomplishments«.
José Antonio Solares knows that there is nothing more important for a family than fulfilling the dream of owning their own home. Therefore, he works tirelessly with his team to achieve this goal. «There is nothing more satisfying than watching a family receive the keys to their home, it makes you want to cry with them. We shall continue to seek fulfilling those dreams.»
The unit is supporting a series of 20 initiatives to update the country’s housing law. Financial, regulatory, rental, leasing and rural initiatives are some of the proposals that are being developed and promoted, and are supported by our Infrastructure and Housing Development Unit.
