Latest news with #TendersandLocalContent
Observer
09-08-2025
- Business
- Observer
Opinion polls launched to gauge awareness of local content
MUSCAT: The National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), in partnership with the Authority for Projects, Tenders and Local Content, will today, Sunday, launch two public opinion polls under the title 'Measuring Community Awareness of Local Content.' The polls will target two groups — one representing the general public and another comprising employees in public and private sector institutions. This initiative supports national efforts to boost in-country value and align with the economic and social goals of Oman Vision 2040. Running until August 27, the surveys aim to measure awareness of the local content concept, assess the extent of public and institutional engagement with policies favouring local products and services, and explore factors influencing the preference for local goods. They will also identify challenges faced by individuals and organisations in adopting this strategic approach. The first poll will involve Omani citizens and residents aged 18 and above. It will examine awareness of core concepts, including employment of the national workforce, use of local goods and services, knowledge transfer, and investment in national assets. It will also explore preferences for Omani products, sources of knowledge about local content, and willingness to pay more for locally produced goods of equal quality. The second poll will focus on Omani employees in supply, manufacturing, distribution, and commercial marketing sectors. It will assess the implementation of local content policies within their organisations, purchasing priorities, challenges in dealing with SMEs, and the benefits of local content application at institutional and sales levels. Mahfouz bin Salem al Musharfi, Director of the Public Opinion Measurement Department at NCSI, said these surveys will give decision-makers a clear picture, based on reliable data, of the realities and challenges of local content in Oman at both individual and institutional levels. He added that the findings will help consolidate economic empowerment, encourage national consumption, and strengthen SMEs' role in supply chains, supporting the goals of Oman Vision 2040 to create a sustainable, diversified economy. Results are expected to yield accurate indicators that will guide the development of national initiatives and inform investments and policies to enhance reliance on Omani human and institutional capabilities. — ONA
Observer
24-06-2025
- Business
- Observer
Authority for Projects, Tenders and Local Content: New phase in development
MUSCAT: Amending the name of the Secretariat-General of the Tender Board to the Authority for Projects, Tenders and Local Content, in accordance to the Royal Decree No. 57/2025, represents an important step to build on the achievements made and ensuring their sustainability by complementing work to create an integrated system to enhance the efficiency of government spending related to government projects and procurement and promote local content. The Authority's mandate includes proposing policies related to increasing the efficiency of government spending and promoting local content related to government projects and procurement, national policies and strategies related to local content development as well as laying down plans, programmes, and initiatives for promoting local content in the Sultanate of Oman and setting local content targets in all sectors at the national level. Among the Authority's powers is developing frameworks and methodologies to enhance the efficiency of planning and implementing government projects with the aim of ensuring their quality, expediting implementation, reducing change orders and adhering to approved budgets. Engineer Badr bin Salem al Maamari The Authority will monitor and manage the implementation of government projects in coordination with relevant authorities. It will also organise technical processes and procedures related to tender management to achieve transparency, equal opportunities, equity and freedom of competition. It will also provide unified procurement services including strategic analytical studies of government procurement needs based on quantum economics. It will also review local content requirements in contracts, purchases, and tenders subject to the Tenders Law and follow up on these requirements in coordination with relevant authorities. It will also conduct a legal review of draft contracts and change orders before they are signed and implemented by any unit of the state administrative apparatus and other public legal entities. The amendments include the addition of purviews related to proposing policies to increase the efficiency of government spending and enhance local content related to government projects and purchases, national policies and strategies related to local content development, and responsibilities related to the national local content system, which includes managing, organising, and monitoring local content in all sectors at the national level. The name of the Directorate-General of Local Content will be changed to the National Office for Local Content in the organisational structure, and the responsibility for managing the execution of government projects will be added in coordination with relevant authorities. Authority for Projects, Tenders and Local Content: New phase in development Engineer Badr bin Salem al Maamari, Chairman of the Authority for Projects, Tenders and Local Content, said: 'The amendment represents a qualitative shift in the governance of public projects and procurement as well as a strategic shift towards managing this vital system according to an integrated institutional approach with a significant developmental and economic dimension.' Al Maamari pointed out that the change in the name builds on the achievements made and ensures their sustainability through comprehensive governance of projects and procurement, based on the priorities of Oman Vision 2040 and its strategic objectives related to economic diversification, financial sustainability, private sector empowerment and enhancing spending efficiency. The Chairman of the Authority for Projects, Tenders and Local Content explained that the approval of the National Local Content Policy represented a pivotal milestone in the comprehensive development process. The Authority is working to develop clear indicators and measurable methodologies for monitoring and evaluating local content across various sectors, encompassing all units of the state's administrative apparatus, government companies, and the private sector. This will contribute to maximising local value-added from government projects and procurement. The Authority, through this institutional transformation, represents the technical reference body and national centre of excellence for all matters related to project governance, procurement, and tendering, as well as enhancing local content in the Sultanate of Oman. It also seeks to function as a role model in consolidating the concepts of sustainability, efficiency and institutional integration, the official concluded. — ONA
