The General Secretariat of the Tender Board has launched the local content requirements application in the E-Tendering system. This initiative is vital for enhancing local content across all sectors and economic activities, while also increasing the efficiency of local content as one of the main targets of Oman Vision 2040.
The introduction of local content requirements in the E-Tendering system aims to simplify procedures with speed and accuracy, improving electronic government systems to facilitate transactions and services.
The General Secretariat of the Tender Board clarified that bidders cannot submit their bids without delivering the local content requirements added during the preparation phase. It is important to note that after the bids are opened, the system automatically evaluates the local content of all bids and ranks them without intervention from bid analysts, in accordance with the principles stipulated in Article (4) of the Tender Law: “All public tenders, limited tenders, practices, and competitions are subject to principles of transparency, equal opportunities, equality, and freedom of competition." This enhances the integrity and credibility that the General Secretariat of the Tender Board has distinguished itself with in its performance, achieving the goals of rationalizing spending and enhancing local content in projects, procurements, and government contracts, thus serving sustainable national development and the public good.
The General Secretariat of the Tender Board plays a crucial role in managing projects, procurements, and government contracts, in alignment with the state's public policy and the priorities of Oman Vision 2040 in governing the administrative apparatus of the state and its resources and projects, as well as their digitization.
The local content regulation specifies the requirements for contracts exceeding 3 million Omani Rials. Additionally, the General Directorate of Local Content may review local content requirements for contracts valued between 500,000 and 3 million Omani Rials based on the nature of the contract. Contracts must include local content requirements, which include developing national human resources and creating job opportunities, as well as local supply of products through value chain and supply chain analysis to support local products directly or indirectly and to develop small and medium enterprises.
The relevant authorities may include requirements for investment in fixed assets as part of local content requirements based on the nature of projects, which encompass manufacturing facilities, service facilities, repair and maintenance facilities, machinery, and more. The General Secretariat, in coordination with the relevant authority, may contract through a pre-purchase method for contracts as specified according to the controls, procedures, and requirements it defines, and the relevant authorities must adhere to these when contracting. The Directorate may require the inclusion of a local content certificate when submitting bids for evaluation purposes.
The regulation mandates the Directorate and relevant authorities to identify mandatory products in the tender, specify the evaluation mechanism for local content elements, and determine the weighting mechanism of local content in the financial evaluation, in addition to any other requirements defined by the General Secretariat. Competing companies are required to submit a local content plan for all project phases in their bid and include it in subcontracting agreements, with the possibility for the General Secretariat to modify it by mutual agreement. The agreed-upon local content percentage in the contract is calculated according to the equation set by the General Secretariat.
The regulation also requires relevant authorities to submit a quarterly report to the General Secretariat regarding the compliance of contracting companies with the local content plan stipulated in the contract, along with any corrective actions and penalties imposed if applicable. The Directorate is authorized to conduct an annual audit to ensure compliance by the relevant authorities with the policies and requirements for implementing local content in the concluded contracts.