During a remote meeting in the Asharqia Chamber
Al Mahdi: The volume of private sector investments in the cities of Jubail and Ras al-Khair is 620.4 billion riyals, and the authority is ahead of new projects estimated at 29.3 billion
The Executive Chairman of the Royal Commission in Jubail, Engineer Mustafa bin Muhammad Al Mahdi, confirmed that the volume of private sector investments in the industrial city of Jubail amounts to (518.7 billion riyals), and in the city of Ras Al-Khair about 101.7 (billion riyals), and that the authority needs larger and more extensive partnerships with the private sector after the Corona pandemic, and that it is coming to new projects with a number of 164 contracts, estimated at 29.3 billion riyals. That the authority's philosophy is based on the fact that the contractor is the first success partner for them, and it always supports the contractors according to the best methods used.
Al-Mahdi said that the pandemic period will not have an impact on the evaluation of contractors, calling on the private sector to follow the future opportunities provided by the authority after the pandemic, through an accreditation platform for government competitions, and attending forums, such as the Forum for Future Projects in 2020, noting the importance of contractors reviewing continuity plans Business and attention to workers and their housing, re-evaluation and improvement of the current situation to reduce risks, as well as accelerate the work of electronic applications.
This came during the meeting organized by the Asharqia Chamber, represented by the Contracting Committee, on the day before yesterday, Tuesday, 23 June 2020, through visual communication technology, and attended by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Asharqia Chamber, Abdul-Hakim bin Hamad Al-Ammar Al-Khaldi, and two members of the Board of Directors Salah bin Abdul Hadi Al-Qahtani, and Saadoun bin Khaled Al-Atish Al-Khaldi, managed by a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Chamber's Contracting Committee, Hamad bin Hammoud Al-Hammad, who emphasized the economic importance of the contracting sector as a major driver of the national economy, and is a primary consumer of local industrial products, noting the escalating growth that the sector was witnessing until the pandemic, which according to Hammad, and other factors in the sector, it was damaged. Saudi contractors are facing difficult situations due to slow demand, the impact of cash flows, project delays, and supply chains disrupted.
Al-Hammad said that the government’s numerous initiatives and programs to support private sector enterprises affected by the repercussions of the spread of the Coronavirus have had the greatest impact in reducing economic damage to private sector facilities, including the contracting sector.
Al Mahdi revealed that the Authority, in the framework of its plans and future projects, seeks to invest in national competencies through the Construction Excellence Center to contribute to improving the factors of achievement, quality, and safety in the contracting environment, which will work to qualify the national talents and provide them with full support to reach a distinguished partnership, as well on providing professional technical departments and providing them with all modern tools for project management, as well as operational cadres in line with the size of the projects.
Al-Mahdi explained, how important is the national contractor for the authority, as it is the most important partner for it, pointing out that the authority applies the regulation of preference for local content in all its projects; It reaches 82% to 92% in construction projects, but it may reach 65% in specialized projects in which it is difficult to find local content from supply chains for construction materials, and in project supply contracts rooted within its priority clauses for local products or materials, Also, the authority not only looks at local content in the context of supplies but also places national labor on its list of basic options.
With regard to the Corona pandemic and how the commission dealt with it, Al Mahdi said that the authority has largely dealt with the crisis and has applied all the requirements of the Ministry of Health, both in terms of housing labor or factories, and established a quarantine in both Jubail Industrial City and Ras Al-Khair city until we got, thank God, to The highest levels of recovery, noting the Crisis and Risk Management Committee, which played a major role in reducing proliferation and mitigating risks; Its mission was focused on studying risks and providing scenarios for the future, and the committee met on a daily basis with general managers, as well as on a weekly basis with the executive heads of industrial companies, and focused in the first period on protecting human capital, as the most important and basic capital in the entire production system.
And on the authority’s keeping pace with the digital transformation, Al-Mahdi said that there is a national strategy for digital transformation and that the authority is keeping pace with this strategy, so it has improved the infrastructure and human capabilities, which greatly helped in achieving the success that clearly emerged with the start of the Corona pandemic, and work is now done On this planning trend in the cities of the Royal Commission and applied mainly in its general plans and applications. For example, the Authority has implemented many projects and applications in the two industrial cities of Jubail and Ras al-Khair as a traffic management system and holistic systems for the operational management of buildings and facilities and smart management systems for services such as waste management and automation In addition to smart applications in design and construction management.
Al-Mahdi concluded the meeting by saying: The authority seeks to expand the circle of its partnerships with the private sector, and it follows the policy of the open door, stressing that work after the pandemic requires a lot to reach a partnership for achievement.
