Kuwait Times, Sunday, Nov 20, 2022 | Rabi Al Thani 25, 1444
ENCON3 to address challenges of Kuwait’s construction sector
Kuwait:
The Federation of Kuwaiti Engineering Offices &
Consultant Houses (KFEOCH) announced in a press release on Saturday that the
“3rd Consulting Services for theDevelopment Plan Forum (ENCON3)” will convene on
10 – 12 January 2023 at Al-Baraka Ballroom at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Minister
of State for Municipal Affairs Abzulaziz Al-Mujel will patronize the event.
The motto and main themes
ENCON3 convenes under the motto “Completing the plans of the electronic portal
for licenses and addressing the challenges of building and housing plans.” It
will address the challenges facing Kuwait’s plans to implement construction
projects in general and housing in particular, starting from the first
preparatory stage, which includes obtaining the necessary permits from the
concerned government agencies to the subsequent execution stages.
In preparation for ENCON3, Abdulaziz Al-Mujel received last Tuesday a delegation
from KFEOCH, which included the President of KFEOCH, Eng Badr Al-Salman, the
Treasurer Eng Jaber Abu Al-Hassan, the Secretary, Eng Hamoud Al-Zoubi, and the
members of the board of directors, Dr Adel Al-Meshri and Eng Saadoun Al-Issa.The
delegation presented to Al-Mujel an invitation to sponsor the ENCON3 and deliver
his speech at its opening ceremony. Al-Mujil commended the efforts of KFEOCH for
organizing the Forum, which raises issues of interest to the Kuwait Municipality
in particular and the State of Kuwait in general. In turn, Eng Al-Salman praised
the Minister for his approval to support and sponsor the Forum.
Welcome to the official sponsorship
KFEOCH expressed happiness at the patronage of Minister Mujel. “His Excellency’s
support for ENCON3 is in line with the responsibility entrusted to His
Excellency. Kuwait Municipality is the main agency entrusted with the
preparatory stages for the planning and implementation of construction and
housing projects, as well as the entity responsible for the electronic portal
project for the Permits system for construction projects,” the press release
stated.
Practical solutions
Eng Bader Al-Salman, President of KFEOCH, said on this occasion, “Construction
and housing projects in the State of Kuwait, as in many countries of the world,
face real challenges. Some are local and require an effort from the responsible
authorities in the State. Others are globally related to the repercussions of
COVID-19. The security events that hit the world after the Russian-Ukrainian war
exacerbated the severity of those challenges. Global logistics services were
greatly affected, among other difficulties.
Construction materials, equipment, and workforce have also experienced severe
global shortages that have affected their availability and prices. At the
internal level, we urgently need to raise the level of cooperation between all
concerned parties to facilitate procedures for bringing the necessary foreign
workforce, ease procedures for foreign trade, and provision of budgets. We also
have to shorten the tendering procedures, contracts, and the automatic issuance
of Permits from all concerned parties without any human intervention except
minimally.”
Public and private sectors’ participation
The press release stated that ENCON3 would witness the active participation of
institutions concerned from the public and private sectors. Regarding the public
sector, the press release said in addition to KFEOCH, the General Secretariat of
the Supreme Council for Planning and Development, the Central Agency for Public
Tenders, Kuwait Municipality, and the Public Authority for Housing Welfare.
In addition, the following government organization will participate Kuwait
Direct Investment Promotion Authority, Kuwait Fire Force, Ministry of
Electricity and Water, Environment Public Authority, Ministry of Public Works,
Public Authority for Roads and Transportation, Ministry of Health, Kuwait
University, Ministry of Education, and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. The
supervisory authorities: State Audit Bureau, the Department of Legal Advice and
Legislation, the Kuwait Anticorruption Authority, the Financial Supervisory
Authority, and the Government Performance Follow-up Agency will participate
actively in ENCON3.
Many engineering offices, consultancy houses, contracting and real estate
companies, building and supplies companies, and technology companies will
participate. These seek to participate in implementing construction and housing
projects in Kuwait. Kuwaiti financial and investment institutions will join due
to their vital role in securing projects’ financing.