Opened yesterday morning construction forum of Asharqia Chamber
The Prince of Eastern: The vision of the Kingdom includes giant projects. The private sector is a partner in achieving them
Inaugurated by His Royal Highness Prince Saud bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz - Prince of the East region - morning, contracting forum, which is organized by the Committee on Construction of Asharqia Chamber "Tquaol" which will be held under the title of (empowerment sector under the Vision 2030) and the headquarters of the Asharqia Chamber.
His Highness noted the vision of the Kingdom of 2030, giant development projects, and opportunities provided for partnership with the private sector in the implementation of projects, management and operation, which requires careful attention to quality and quality, and work to prepare national cadres in this field, whether in the engineering fields, His Highness pointed out that the Kingdom's presidency of the G20 Summit is an opportunity for various sectors to highlight their capabilities and enable them to open the horizons of partnership and benefit from different experiences. Government, the shift towards digital government, and support and empowerment programs launched respectively to empower the private sector and raise its efficiency.
In his speech during the opening session, Chairman of the Asharqia Chamber of Abdul-Hakim bin Hamad Ammar al-Khalidi said that the wise leadership of our country has painted a clear roadmap milestones for the start of the prospects for the future, and here it is today presiding over the work of the Group of Twenty and pays tribute to its policy of international financial institutions of all kinds, and continue her career towards achieving national and sustainable economic growth, enhance to mobilize all sectors of the economy, it comes on top of the construction sector, as a sector capable of activating the economic growth cycle and contribute to economic development and employment of national manpower.
He added that the construction industry is witnessing a new breakthrough towards enhancing its ability to implement the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, as a result of the new directions in the structure of the national economy, and open the door for all economic sectors to participate in shaping the path of the Kingdom's economy and maximize its value in the GDP He stressed that the contracting sector, with all its pioneers and components, is committed to the wise leadership's directions in participating and actively contributing to the realization of Vision 2030, implementing its development programs and objectives, and looks forward to more support, care and empowerment so that it can develop its tools and maximize its capabilities. To deal with the implementation of giant national projects.
Another part, member of the Board of Directors of the Asharqia Chamber and Chairman of the Contracting Committee Hamad bin Hamoud Al-Hammad: said that "The construction sector is an important axis of the national economy and highlights its importance as a sector contributing to the growth of many other market sectors, and in each process of structural reform of the economy we find that the construction sector always “The Kingdom's ambitious vision 2030 was based on comprehensive perceptions, ambitious programs and fundamental reforms, which reflected on the contracting sector, which requires national companies and institutions to keep pace with these changes and follow the reforms.”
He pointed out that the contracting sector has managed to overcome the deflation phase that usually accompanies major changes, and achieved positive progress for its value in gross output by 5.1%, which is equivalent to current prices for 2018 about 151 billion, and the opening session witnessed a visual presentation prepared by the Contracting Committee of the Eastern Chamber revealed that the size of the sector up to 400 billion riyals, it operates 200 thousand facility, and employs about 4 million workers, reviewing committee contracting efforts in the sector service as it has this year, about 45 activities different to support the sector and examine some of the challenges it faces.
The first session: Projects works in cooperation with 30 government agencies to restructure the procedures adopted in the government projects
The Director-General of the National Program "Projects" Engineer Ahmed Al-Balawi, said during the first session entitled "The role of the construction sector in achieving the vision 2030" that the state has spent on capital projects about (5) trillion during the past five decades, , adding that the state has spent more on operating contracts and infrastructure maintenance, stressing that "projects" aimed at improving practices in government projects, where the process is leading a comprehensive transformation with government agencies through the structuring facilities.
Al-Balawi said that projects are currently working on the management of facilities through the adoption of different methods in launching projects, where (60) schools in Makkah were launched in partnership with the private sector, while (60) schools in Madinah will be presented with the same system, indicating, Projects "work in cooperation with 30 government agencies to restructure the procedures adopted in government projects, stressing the design of the control panel of government projects in various regions of the Kingdom, stressing that" projects "lead the government sector towards better practices.
n turn, the Vice President of Procurement and Supply Chain Management at Saudi Aramco Eng. Mohammed Al Shammari said that the company has been interested in developing the contracting sector since its inception, where it has worked to develop programs to activate the localization in the sector, adding that the company has launched a new platform to reduce the requirements of registration of construction companies to not exceed 3 - 4 days, stressing that the company is keen to follow up the measures to support the contracting sector to increase transparency, calling on major construction companies to develop small companies, so as to lead to a state of balance, pointing out that the development of small and medium enterprises from one of the programs "Iktefa."
Al-Shammari called for granting small companies a part of the work in the projects implemented by major construction companies, stressing the need to develop the contracting industry through the establishment of "research centers" to continue the development and excellence in the sector, considering commitment to work ethics and ensuring integrity of the priorities in the sector. He stressed the need to continue work to prevent manipulation of quality, calling on the contracting companies to strengthen "cybersecurity" through the development of a strong information security system, pointing out that cybersecurity neglect affects the march of companies.
He pointed out that the "Wa'ed" program has supported 120 projects for small and medium enterprises, whether with loans or participation.
For his part, Director General of Technical Affairs at the Royal Commission in Jubail Eng. Ahmed Noureddine Hassan, said that planning from the beginning and the selection of outstanding management are essential factors in the implementation of projects according to the required requirements, stressing the need to develop an integrated monitoring and support system in the construction phase, through clear procedures The methodology is consistent, stressing that the Authority is the first to create "infrastructure contractor" which aims to provide an integrated product for various services and quality, pointing out that the Authority was keen to train national cadres to develop performance and quality through the specialized center.
He pointed out that the failure of projects is linked to several aspects, including the system of risk management and financial management, there is a disparity in the financial management of companies, some strong and the other weak, pointing out that risk management is still below the level of maturity required in the contracting sector other than maturity in the industrial sector, Calling on the Saudi Organization for Contractors to raise the maturity in risk management and deal with it professionally, calling for more cooperation between the contracting companies in relation to financial risk management expertise.
The director of the mega-projects management of engineering and projects in the Middle East and Africa Company "SABIC" Engineer Abdul Aziz Al-Qahtani, said that the construction sector is the second-largest non-oil sector and construction companies represent the backbone of development in the Kingdom, stressing that parking SABIC with the sector through the launch of program "support" to increase local content for small and medium-sized enterprises, stressing that the Commission signed a memorandum of aggravation with the Saudi contractors as an indication of the company's eagerness to pay attention to the sector.
He added that the company is keen to facilitate and qualify the construction companies to upgrade their level, including training and qualification on the standards and requirements to enter the projects put forward by the company, pointing out that the company, which has more than 12 thousand patents and spread in 25 countries, It is very important to allocate the bulk of its projects to national companies, stressing that the company is committed to supporting the contracting sector.
Al-Qahtani said that the default of projects is linked to the employer and the executing company, due to the absence of vision and planning from the employer through the lack of development in the study of the details of the project before submitting it. He emerged from the market, where more than 20,000 companies have come out of the market in recent years, advising companies by saying "do not bid too little to win the tender".
He stressed that the safety of manpower is a priority not ceded by "SABIC" where the company achieved a world record without injury (275) million hours and the company is working to put it in the Guinness Book.
In turn, the head of the projects sector at the Saudi Electricity Company, Eng. Ibrahim Al-Khunaizan, said that the company has been targeting the construction sector since its inception and it gives priority to national companies. The company has success stories with national companies, so that it expanded to enter the markets of North Africa and the Gulf countries, pointing out that the standards and requirements adopted in the company has become a standard for some Gulf countries, indicating that the company has Come together He pointed out that there are many opportunities for contracting companies during 2020, calling on companies to go for promising investment opportunities in the renewable energy sector, adding that investment opportunities will be announced soon. , Including all the details in all transparency.
He said that the company is linking renewable energy projects with the national grid, where the Ministry of Energy launched projects for the production of renewable energy, where there are many investment opportunities in the mega-projects (Neum - Amala - Alkadih).
Session 2: Recommendation to review the procedures of the financial departments of companies
The participants stressed in the second session of the contracting forum organized by the Asharqia Chamber on Wednesday on the principle of partnership between the contractor on the one hand, and between government agencies benefiting from tenders contractor .. noting that the new regulations are supportive of this approach, and take into account the contractor's rights by addressing all cases over by the sector in the past periods, calling for more regulation, sector serves the public good.
The Chairman of the Saudi Contractors Authority, Osama bin Hassan Al-Afaliq said during the session, which was moderated by a member of the National Committee of Contractors, Eng. Muhannad Qusai Al-Azzawi, under the title (Regulatory Frameworks in Empowering the Contracting Sector), In the sector, proposals have been made to develop and address the challenges, but we nevertheless believe that the sector needs more, and despite the optimism we hold regarding the new regulations and procedures, we have 4,000 contractors out of 160,000 are not all registered with the Authority, and we find that we need to change Radical concepts in the start of the designs and even contract with implementing.
And the Under-Secretary for Reconstruction and Projects faithfully Eastern Region Engineer Essam Al Mulla explained that the Secretariat should consider the Contractor as a partner, noting that the Secretariat has practices to raise the efficiency of project management, and the building code is in the stages of activation will jump sector and activity in it.
The head of the development of competition and government procurement system of the former Dr. Salim Bin Saleh Al-Mutawa stressed the principle of partnership contractor with the government apparatus beneficiary, so the training is important, awareness and dissemination of culture on this concept, before creating regulations and legislation, we must know that the principle of partnership is reflected positively on the projects themselves, which are related to projects such as citizen such as schools, hospitals, and streets and so on.
For his part, The CEO of "Semah" Classification Agency Nabil Al-Mubarak said that the contracting sector contains about 208 thousand commercial registers, of which only about 3600 are classified. Therefore, those dealing with government projects are few, calling for linking the contractor with the financial sector and governmental institutions to achieve the principle of partnership.
The Chairman and CEO of Khalid bin Ali Al-Turki & Sons (Al-Turki Holding), Rami Bin Khaled Al-Turki, explained that we need more empowerment for the sector, and this is not only more classification, and find more financing tools, what gets the construction sector does not exceed 7 % Of finance in the financial sector in general, and the rest goes to other sectors.
He asked for the support of the Ministry of Labor and Social Development, and the review of many of the decisions, at the same time praising the efforts of the Human Resources Development Fund also called for the protection of contractors from non-fair competition.
