Riyadh shortlists three US firms for project management role

Saudi Arabia’s National Project Management Office (NPMO) has shortlisted three US-based consultancies to oversee the kingdom’s capital expenditure projects, Middle East Economic Digest (MEED) reported.

Aecom, Bechtel and Parsons all submitted their bids in mid-July for the contract, which will initially be for a period of three years.

The NPMO was formed by the Saudi ministry of economy and planning in 2015.

The kingdom had allocated funding for government departments and related entities earlier this year to hire consultancies to set up project management offices (PMOs) in the country.

The kingdom is also said to be tendering the PMO roles for various ministries, including the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs (Momra), the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Transport.

Program management– a methodology for managing large and complex projects – has become a key focus for the Saudi government as it looks to curtail spending and increase returns from its capital investment program.

Moreover, PMOs will help in achieving privatization targets set by the Saudi government, which has identified about 146 state-owned entities that could be privatized in order to meet budget gaps brought on by an oil slump.