The upcoming second “Construction and Projects Forum” to be held at the Four Seasons Hotel, Riyadh on Nov. 24 will convene over 20 experts and specialists in the construction sector from the public and private sector from both inside and outside Saudi Arabia, said Dr. Abdulrahman Bin Abdullah Al-Zamil, Chairman of the board of Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on Saturday. The forum will held under the patronage of Minister of Housing Dr. Shuwaish bin Saud Al-Dhuwaihi and is organized by Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry represented by its Contractors Committee in partnership with the Ministry of Housing and in collaboration with Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal Group. He further said the patronage of the minister “confirms the ministry's keenness towards strengthening the cooperation and partnership with the private sector”, adding that “the national construction sector constitutes the main base of Saudi economy, due to its huge contributions in its GDP,” pointing out that “the economic, strategic and social importance of this sector is not a secret, as this sector is the main executor for our development projects, and one of the largest operators for labors and the fundamental engine for the construction products industry in the Kingdom.” The Head of the Forum's Scientific Committee Eng. Saleh Bin Habdan AlHabdan said the “forum will include after the opening ceremony, key session for Ministry of Housing which will discuss the review of the ministry's plans to regulate the housing sector, the scale of future housing projects and the ministry's mechanisms in recruiting and employing contractors.” He added “the forum will be allocating a session which will make an overview on the construction sector and the future trends. It will be moderated by Chairman of Council of Saudi Chambers Eng. Abdullah bin Said AlMobty. The session will review the results of the study which the Second Construction and Projects Forum had executed in collaboration with Gulf Bureau for Research and Economic Consulting and will be presented by the President of the Bureau Dr. Taufiq AlSuwailem”. He added: “this session will also analyze the causes of stalled projects and ways to jumpstart them, the current state of construction companies and will also analyze the litigation and dispute resolution environment and development proposals. The speakers will be the Vice President for Corruption's Combating in the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nazaha) Oussama Al-Rabi'ah, Chairman of Nesma Holding Company Saleh Al-Turki, and the former Judge at the Saudi Board of Grievances Mohammed Aljathlani.” Eng. AlHabdan continued: “the second session is titled “The Development of the Construction Sector and Project Implementation” and will discuss the restructuring of the sector and the importance of a unified reference, and how to develop the regulatory environment for projects, and the requirements for the development of contractors internally. The session will be moderated by Deputy Governor of Makkah in the Ministry of Interior Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Khedheiri and the speakers will be the Secretary General of the Saudi Council of Engineers Dr. Ghazi Al-Abbasi, President of National Contractors Committee in Council of Saudi Chambers Fahad Al-Hammadi, and Director of Engineering department in Royal Commission of Jubail Eng. Ahmad Hassan. The next session will shed light on the Saudization process in the construction sector, where it will discuss a study on the role of the construction sector in Saudization, a diagnosis of the reality of the labor market in the contracting sector, and the training programs and their adequacy with the demand, and also the anticipated role of the private sector in this field. It will be moderated by Chairman of Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Zamil. The Head of the Forum's Scientific Committee focused on the “significance of the last session which will be assigned for the Turkish experience in the construction sector and the lessons learned, where it will have a review on the regulatory environment in the Turkish construction sector, and will discuss the exporting process of the Turkish contractors, and will highlight on the experience of the Turkish Contractors Association, and will also center the discussions on the government support for the private sector and key factors for its success. — SG
