The General Secretariat of the Tender Board launched a project to develop cadres working in government projects and contracts, in order to qualify a number of engineers working in this sector, which enhances the efficiency of performance in improving and developing project management. The project is divided into three phases. In its first phase, it targets construction projects, and the Emkan program emerges from it. 1, which was launched on the first of last January, and trains 50 engineers representing a number of government agencies, and continues for 6 months, while the Emkan 2 program targets about 120 engineers from 11 government agencies, and it is hoped that it will start next June, and then the projects of the rest of the government agencies will come third. Priority is given to projects of importance. The second stage is concerned with project management (services and supplies), and the third stage is concerned with technical project management.
The project aims to achieve a number of outcomes in raising the efficiency of human cadres working in the field of project management and government contracts, while creating a professional work system to rotate workers, which is reflected in the creation of local added value in the management of government projects and contracts to contribute to defining clear standards for evaluating the technical level in the divisions. Organizational management of contracts and projects.
Abdullah bin Saif Al Hosani, Talent and Competency Development Advisor at the General Secretariat of the Tender Board on assignment, said to “Oman”: “Emkan” programs are of utmost importance in keeping pace with the Sultanate of Oman’s plans for Vision 2040, and it is also consistent with the strategy of the General Secretariat of the Tender Board in raising the efficiency of workers. Good management of government projects and contracts.
He added: The program seeks to create a database and functional matrix in all government institutions’ departments in the field of projects, contracts and tenders.
Emkan” is also a promising program for exemplary professional development for cadres working in contracts, project management and tenders in government agencies, in order to reach specialized national competencies that compete locally and internationally. It comes in 3 stages. In the first stage, a number of government agencies will benefit from it, namely the Ministry of Transport. Communications and Information Technology, the Ministry of Agricultural Wealth, Fisheries and Water Resources, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning, the Municipality of Muscat and the Municipality of Dhofar.
As for the second phase of the program, it targets 11 government agencies, namely the Ministry of Interior, the University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, and the governorate offices in: Buraimi, Dhofar, South and North Al Sharqiyah, Al Dhahirah, Al Dakhiliyah, South and North Al Batinah. After that comes the final phase, which is the technical project management phase.
Abdullah Al Hosani added: The program will address many challenges facing contracts and projects, including project delays, stumbling, and the length of the implementation period, in addition to other challenges such as changes and increases that often occur in projects, which result in additional amounts.
He pointed out: From the beginning, a unified database was created that brings together the necessary standards and regulations that contribute to raising the efficiency of contract and project management, adding: There is one platform that brings together the conditions and regulations that government agencies must follow in tenders.
Study the challenges
Al Hosani added in his speech: The General Secretariat of the Tender Board also worked on a questionnaire to study the challenges facing tenders and concluded that the majority comes from the contractor and consultant for the projects implemented, and the difficulties are currently being overcome in a way that suits all parties. He explained that the system being worked on primarily targets projects whose cost exceeds 3 million Omani riyals.
Regarding the importance of the program in improving the management of contracts and projects, the Talent and Competency Development Advisor at the General Secretariat of the Tender Board indicated that the program was launched to address the challenges. After studies and questionnaires in place, it was found that there are a number of engineers in project and contract management who need additional doses in the efficiency of project and contract management. Accordingly, engineers were selected from the highest government agencies in executing tenders, and agencies responsible for executing major projects, and the selected engineers were then enrolled in an integrated system for a period of 6 months to achieve the desired goal of the program. The program was designed with the expertise of specialists to achieve the maximum desired benefit. It includes theoretical work with workshops, field visits, and distance learning with the implementation of accompanying programs, provided that the engineers remain at work so that the desired benefit accrues directly to the contracts and projects currently being implemented.
Al Hosani explained that the first phase began on January 1 and will continue for 6 months, with the second phase starting next July.
Regarding the methods of selecting engineers in government agencies, Al Hosani explained that there are requirements set for the efficiency of selection, as the database created approximately 900 engineers working in this sector, including those directly involved in project work, who number 400 engineers. The priority categories were then identified, which was divided into There are 3 stages, which are construction projects, which include schools, bridges, roads, ports, etc., after which comes the supply stage, then technology and services.
He added: The program has so far had a positive impact on engineering competencies, with a number of trainees working to transfer expertise to their workplace, in addition to providing other training workshops in government agencies that implement contracts and projects, which created other versions of this program in all government agencies.