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By Fatima Muhammad
JEDDAH — Saudi Arabia is spending 20% of its budget on maintenance, while the efficiently of the operation in the government sector is only 58%, Mohammad Al-Fawzan, chairman of the Arab Institute of Operations and Maintenance (OMAINTEC), told Saudi Gazette Sunday.
He said there is an increasing interest to reduce the costs and managing operations and maintenance is the best method to do so in line with the Saudi vision. He elaborated that they provide experiences, new approaches and recommendations in operation and maintenance to all member countries but they do not have authority to force institutions to implement recommendations. However, he added that there is a trend in heading toward making use of the international practice in the operation and maintenance sector.
Al-Fawzan was speaking on the sidelines of the 14th International Operations and Maintenance Conference in the Arab Countries inaugurated by Lt. Gen. Fayyad Al-Ruwaili, the deputy chief of staff, on behalf of the Deputy Crown Prince and Minister of Defense Mohammad Bin Salman. The three-day conference kicked off at the Jeddah Hilton.
Al-Ruwaili said the Ministry of Defense has sponsored the conference as it believes in the importance of collaborating local, regional and international efforts to exchange experiences in order to reduce the spending on operations and maintenance in an effective way which will improve the quality of performance and reduce spending.
Zuhair Sarraj, secretary-general of the conference and the head of the International Maintenance Organization, said maintenance is a set of practices and experiences that are drawn from training evaluation. He noted that in the Arab counties there is neglect of maintenance in many establishments and facilities. This, he said, is due to the absence of policies for effective maintenance at less cost.
The event is organized for the third time in the Kingdom and is held now under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and is organized by the Ministry of Defense, in cooperation with OMAINTEC, under the theme “Activating the role of asset and comprehensive facilities management in raising the efficiency of government spending.”
The conference offers 11 workshops and 8 sessions presented by 60 speakers coming from 16 countries. It is expected to gather 8,500 participants.
© The Saudi Gazette 2016
