KCT emphasises local supply and subcontracting agreements

Khayyat Contracting & Trading says Qatari supply is key as it looks to maximise its local consumption and minimise imports from other countries for its projects on the peninsula.

Khayyat Contracting & Trading (KCT) is picking up a growing number of projects in Qatar and though there is pressure on the supply chain the company says it will stand firm in encouraging local supply, which will ultimately save on time and money in the market. Moutaz Khayyat, CEO of KCT, notes: We are emphasising local supply, because the best way for you to save is to source your materials from the country you are in, and in Qatar this will prompt the creation of a market which can accommodate everything that is going on in the country. We need to move at the same pace as the vision for Qatar, and as the market has not yet shown the strength and cohesion to provide all the commodities and trades for construction, we need to support it to ensure that local business doesnt get left behind. KCT is also setting up both warehouses to enable the purchase and storage of local materials in bulk, and is also considering fixed period supply agreements with certain local companies. Ahmad Jaafar, procurement director at KCT, details: We have opened warehouses for all the materials that we are going to be using on a regular basis in order to streamline our supply chain. When its needed, its there, and its bought at a price that beats the market given its quality. The only caveat comes when the order is so huge that it simply cannot be bought locally, but otherwise we are looking for the future to verify certain proven companies to work with us that, adds Jaafar, noting: We are now making limited one-year agreements. The contractor in particular hopes that with time it will be able to identify the reliable suppliers in the market, and to eliminate any non-effective parties employing opportunistic tactics. We are very pleased with the achievement of putting the procurement department on the track, and to be moving away from short-term agreements. The procurement department is not there just to pass papers, nods Khayyat. We do not want a bureaucratic kind of dealing it is supposed to be effective in controlling cost,

and in ensuring the supply of materials, the timeliness of supply and that the payment is there. A final point is to ensure that the internal procedures of local projects do not make correct procurement a secondary matter in order to accommodate the pace, so KCT is focusing its efforts on streamlining its processes to confine costs while accommodating all of its sites.