RIYADH — Faithful+Gould, in association with the Saudi Council of Engineers, will be hosting a professional development seminar that will focus on how early engagement of project and program management can provide vital improvements to the overall delivery of a project within budget and on time.



A first of its kind and part of an ongoing series, the seminar will be held tomorrow (June 2) at the Al Khozama Hotel in Riyadh and will feature a presentation by David Clifton, Regional  Development Director, Faithful+Gould on ‘How early engagement of program/project management can deliver improvements’. This will be followed by a session on the newly added PMBOK knowledge area, Stakeholders Management’ by Syed Basharat Aziz from the Project Management Institute.



Clifton said offering professional development seminars is an important undertaking in ensuring the success of project delivery in Saudi Arabia.  “In an ever increasing and congested program and project delivery environment in the Middle East, this seminar will explore the benefits of early program and project management professionals engagement ‎and how applying business excellence in PMO processes can truly add benefits to projects.”



In addition to advice on dealing with the technical and time-sensitive pressures of delivering high-profile he also stressed that seminars such as this are vital now more than ever in a region where 30% of the workforce is employed in the infrastructure sector.



Eng. Mohammed Al Mutairi, Vice Chairman of Projects Management Chapter, Saudi Council of Engineers, said: “Among other plans, we hope to raise awareness about the importance of practical project management and to gain insights from best practices and experts in this field by holding a number of specialized technical seminars in partnership with Faithful+Gould.”



According to Al Mutairi, Saudi Arabia is witnessing a comprehensive renaissance in all fields, especially in infrastructure, education and health facilities projects, therefore, the professionals in project management needs to sharpen and to upgrade their knowledge occasionally. “We in the Project Management Chapter will continue these efforts with our allies, as part of our commitment to raise the bar for quality standards in practicing our profession,” he added.



Much has been made of the volume of work which will be carried in the region and in particular in Saudi Arabia which has indicated that its budget for 2015 and the upcoming years will maintain a wide range of diversification initiatives and investment programs to boost the government’s ongoing efforts to develop long-term non-oil development.

The country’s efforts will focus on education, infrastructure, health, social services, security services, municipal services, water and water treatment services, and roads and highways and in the coming year, education, healthcare, science, technology, and e-governance projects will continue to be priority sectors.



Saudi Arabia intends to carry out 16 key power projects in the Eastern Province over the next three years to meet a steady growth in domestic electricity demand, according to a Saudi official.



Meanwhile water, agriculture, and infrastructure projects have been allocated $16 billion (SR6 billion) in 2015.  Projects under construction approved in prior fiscal years still have $37.9 billion (SR142 billion) remaining in their costs.



An estimated $8.9 billion (SR33.5 billion) will be spent to fund nearly 2,000 kilometers of new roads, airport upgrades and expansions, railways, sea ports, and infrastructure projects at Jubail, Yanbu, and Ras Al-Khair.  Projects under construction approved in prior fiscal years still have $30.7 billion (SR115 billion) in their remaining costs.



The importance of accurate technical knowledge, installing efficient business processes, and budget concerns are common themes within the industry of project and program management and as such the initiative by Faithful+Gould and the Saudi Council of Engineers offers professionals in the Kingdom the opportunity to learn from world-leading experts and allows attendees the opportunity to update skills and knowledge regularly while networking with other like-minded contractors, professionals, and industry experts.



The Riyadh seminar comes off the heels of Faithful+Gould’s ongoing series of continued professional development seminars in Qatar where it has been actively participating in delivering much needed knowledge and professional development for the past three years.



In 2012, Faithful+Gould hosted their first CPD event in Doha, in association with the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) with the event continuing to gain traction and attracting 200 attendees in its most recent edition in earlier this month. 



These events are attended by RICS members and representatives from client organizations, contractors and academia and provide great opportunity for networking with likeminded industry professionals in Qatar. Presentations given by Faithful+Gould’s in-house experts continues to position the UK Firm as industry thought leaders and share its knowledge. — SG