News Archive

2024

Group CEO Shares Insight to Best Procurement Practice for Infrastructure Projects in Asia

In a recent interview with Project Finance International (PFI), a leading source of global project finance intelligence by Thomson Reuters, Group CEO Omar Shahzad shared his thoughts on the best procurement practices for infrastructure projects from a developer’s point of view.

In this inaugural special report on the Best Practices in Asian Infrastructure, Mr Shahzad talked about the challenges faced in procurement and highlighted the importance of a strong technical team as well as good design and planning to enhance buildability and optimise construction cost. He elaborated that the technical team plays a key role from start to end – their involvement spans from the feasibility study stage through to the concept and detailed design up till the calling for tender. Mr Shahzad also spoke of the key aspects to mitigate risks as far as project delivery is concerned such as only getting involved during the construction phase. He calls this “the real execution phase” and emphasised the importance of “owning the design” and “having continuity in the whole process otherwise you might get a design that looks good only on paper”. This is especially crucial when the project is being constructed in a third world country for example, where quality of construction might not be as ideal and therefore greater involvement is required from the team to ensure smooth execution. Mr Shahzad highlighted that clients are increasingly opting for QCBS (Quality & Cost Basis Selection) criteria when selecting the technical & construction team for infrastructure projects. “It is not just the part with the lowest financial offer that wins in a tender process but the party that understands the project, has a clear track record and that has put forward the right people to be leading the project,” said Mr Shahzad. Summing up his interview, Mr Shahzad acknowledged that whilst the top tier of its project team often comprises expatriates from Meinhardt’s global offices, the Group has a strong commitment to train the local workforce by offering education scholarships, exposure to big projects and training opportunities to more established Group offices in places like Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. To read the full article, click here... To read the PFI Special Report on the “Best Practices in Asian Infrastructure, click here...

In this inaugural special report on the Best Practices in Asian Infrastructure, Mr Shahzad talked about the challenges faced in procurement and highlighted the importance of a strong technical team as well as good design and planning to enhance buildability and optimise construction cost. He elaborated that the technical team plays a key role from start to end – their involvement spans from the feasibility study stage through to the concept and detailed design up till the calling for tender.

Mr Shahzad also spoke of the key aspects to mitigate risks as far as project delivery is concerned such as only getting involved during the construction phase. He calls this “the real execution phase” and emphasised the importance of “owning the design” and “having continuity in the whole process otherwise you might get a design that looks good only on paper”.

This is especially crucial when the project is being constructed in a third world country for example, where quality of construction might not be as ideal and therefore greater involvement is required from the team to ensure smooth execution.

Mr Shahzad highlighted that clients are increasingly opting for QCBS (Quality & Cost Basis Selection) criteria when selecting the technical & construction team for infrastructure projects. “It is not just the part with the lowest financial offer that wins in a tender process but the party that understands the project, has a clear track record and that has put forward the right people to be leading the project,” said Mr Shahzad.

Summing up his interview, Mr Shahzad acknowledged that whilst the top tier of its project team often comprises expatriates from Meinhardt’s global offices, the Group has a strong commitment to train the local workforce by offering education scholarships, exposure to big projects and training opportunities to more established Group offices in places like Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

To read the full article, click here…

To read the PFI Special Report on the “Best Practices in Asian Infrastructure, click here…