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The Authority for Public Services Regulation (APSR) is embarking on a plan to localise key sections of the electrical contracting services sector with the goal of opening up employment opportunities for Omanis, as well as contracting opportunities for Omani small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
A key goal of this initiative is to channel electrical contracting opportunities to Omani SMEs registered with Riyada. A majority of these SMEs are registered to undertake network extension and reinforcement jobs – contracts that broadly fall within the scope of Grade C certified contractors.
“The Authority for Public Services Regulation (APSR) is keen to increase the opportunities for Omani Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to be part of the works undertaken in the electricity sector. The government’s directions and efforts in Omanising the job market in all sectors including the water and electricity sectors shall trigger the urgency for providing the necessary support programmes to efficiently create businesses that specifically fill this market gap which is currently covered by expatriates,” the regulator stated in a Request for Proposals (RfP) issued earlier this week.
The RfP invites suitably qualified consultants to bid for the regulator’s contract to chart a strategy for localising jobs in the network extension and reinforcement category of electrical contracting services. Included in this category are contracts covering the installation of overhead lines and underground cables, underground cable extensions, and distribution substations – contracts that could open up potentially hundreds of jobs for Omanis when the strategy is fully implemented.
An award for the formulation of the strategy will be announced soon, with the project due to commence in May 2022, the Authority stated.
Significantly, the Electricity and Water sectors in the Sultanate of Oman are being primed for high levels of Omanisation. Early last year, Nama Group – the umbrella organisation of state-owned power generation, transmission, distribution and related businesses – said it had plans to train as many as 800 Omanis for jobs in the electricity sector.
An Omanisation strategy drawn up by the Group in this regard mandated sector subcontractors and service providers to gradually Omanise positions held by expatriates in different parts of the Sultanate of Oman. The goal is to raise Omanisation from the current rate of about 47 per cent to nearly 90 per cent upon its conclusion.
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