OQ Group’s spending on goods and services reaches US 974 mln in Q3 2023

Muscat: The OQ Group’s spending on goods and services reaches US 974.07 million until the end of the third quarter of 2023 of which US 753.11 million were spent on goods and services in contracts and purchases for local companies and institutions. This resulted in an amount of US$314.17 million being retained as domestic value added.

The group spent an amount of US$172.53 million on small and medium enterprises until the third quarter of this year, of which US$56.99 million was spent on small and medium enterprises holding a Riyada card.

This comes within the group’s plans to enhance local added value in line with government efforts, to achieve the objectives of the “Oman 2040” vision, and an embodiment of the group’s commitment to enhancing local added value as it is one of the strategies it is keen on in its investments, business and activities to enrich and support local markets, products and small and medium enterprises.

The group also paid special attention to the Omani product by setting regulations that contribute to enhancing purchases of the Omani product, such as preferring a purchase price of up to 10 percent and restricting and allocating some Omani products in contracts and purchases. Spending on products manufactured in the Sultanate of Oman amounted to approximately US 122.41 million.

OQ is undertaking some initiatives to localize local industries, such as the recently signed projects in the Ladain Complex, whose local added value contribution amounts to approximately US$46 million annually.

Engineer Mabrouk bin Hamad Al Siyabi, General Manager of Local Added Value at OQ Group, said: The group focuses on local added value greatly in all its projects and activities. Recognizing the significant role played by local companies in building the national economy and achieving sustainability, he added that the group invests in programs that enhance the growth and development of local companies, provides opportunities to supply local products, and works to provide goods and services from locally registered suppliers, in addition to providing job opportunities. Skills development, innovation and supply of goods and services from small and medium enterprises.

The Director General of Local Added Value at the OQ Group explained that the group has developed a practical framework to maximize local added value in the national economy, indicating that this is represented by creating a unit specialized in local added value, and developing overall performance indicators for the group to follow up local added value, and taking into account the requirements. Local added value is an essential part of the contraction policy through unifying the local added value procedures applied in tenders, displaying all company tenders on the electronic contraction website “Tawreed”, adopting local added value as one of the criteria for evaluating bids, and following up on companies’ performance by applying local added value requirements through the value platform added local tracking and reporting.

He pointed out that the group attaches great importance to employment, training and scholarships as one of the most important aspects of local added value. The Omanisation percentage in the group reached approximately 84 percent by the end of 2022. In the field of training, Engineer Mabrouk bin Hamad Al-Siyabi explained that OQ worked to qualify 800 leaders through the “Masar” program. With the aim of creating leaders who will undertake the transformation phase that the group is witnessing.

The Director General of In-Country Value at the OQ Group stated that the number of small and medium enterprises registered in OQ’s electronic attrition system (Tawreed) reached about 2,200 companies and institutions, including 617 institutions holding a leadership card, noting that OQ has launched many programs aimed at promoting growth and development.

Small and medium enterprises, increasing their contribution to the OQ supply chain; Such as allocating 10 percent of the total spending on purchases, fully or partially, to small and medium enterprises. In addition, the group began supporting small and medium enterprises that hold a Riyada card in line with the government’s economic incentive plans and the contracts and procurement policy.

Regarding facilitating the procedures and practices followed in the field of procurement for Riyada card holders, Engineer Mabrouk bin Hamad Al Siyabi said that OQ attaches great importance to small and medium enterprises, as it has implemented several initiatives; Including the awarding of purchase orders and contracts for goods and services whose value is less than 10 thousand Omani riyals, in addition to the award of purchase orders and contracts for goods and services whose value exceeds 10 thousand Omani riyals and does not exceed 50 thousand Omani riyals at a preferential price of up to 10 percent.

The group also allocated 10 percent of total spending on purchases for SMEs and payment within 15 days of receipt of invoice; Exemption from tender fees and initial guarantee requirements. The development of spending over the past three years reflects OQ’s interest in local added value.

The volume of local spending on goods and services in contracts and purchases that local companies and institutions benefited from in 2022 amounted to about one billion and 16.86 million US dollars out of the total spending on goods and services amounting to one billion and 385.55 million US dollars, while the value retained in Sultanate of Oman, about 453.52 million US dollars; It represented about 32.7 percent of the local value added index.

While the volume of local spending on goods and services in contracts and purchases that local companies and institutions benefited from in 2021 amounted to about 931 million US dollars out of the total spending on goods and services, and the value retained locally amounted to about 392 million US dollars, as the percentage of retained value constituted 29 percent of the local added value index.

In 2020, the volume of local spending on goods and services in contracts and purchases that benefited local companies and institutions amounted to about 712 million US dollars out of the total spending on goods and services, and the value retained locally amounted to about 282 million US dollars. The retained value was approximately 28 percent of the local value added index. /Omani/