The total value of tenders that have been floated in Kuwait during 2021 increased 5 times, reaching 1.849 billion dinars, compared to 303.45 million dinars at the end of 2020, while the data also showed that 2021 witnessed the awarding of about 236 tenders by 37 different government agencies, reports Al-Anba daily, quoting official sources. The detailed tender award data in 2021 showed that the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy ranked first among the government institutions in terms awarding tenders, as it acquired 21.5 contracts out of the total number of 50 contracts that were awarded, while the Ministry of Health took the second spot by about 25 contracts, representing about 10.59% of the total contracts awarded during the year.

Two entities ranked third in terms of the highest number of contracts awarded, the first of which is the Ministry of Education, and the second is the Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR), each of them awarding 13 contracts, while the Kuwait University ranked fourth with 11 contracts.

Ranked
Three government institutions ranked fifth — the Ministry of Works, the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training and the Directorate-General of Fire Department (DGFD) with 9 contracts for each, while the Civil Service Commission and the Kuwait Oil Company ranked sixth with 8 contracts each. As for the lowest government agencies awarding tenders according to the number, in that list were 10 institutions each of them awarding only one tender in 2021, including the Central Bank of Kuwait, the Fatwa and Legislation Department, the Audit Bureau, the Investment Promotion Authority, the Cabinet Secretariat, the National Petroleum Company and the Public Authority for Youth, the Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company, the Environment Public Authority, and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development.

The figures show 7 government agencies out of 37 account for 91% of the value of the tenders that were awarded in 2021, and at the is the Kuwait Oil Company, which ranked first in terms of the highest value of tenders with 1.32 billion dinars for 8 tenders, including 3 that acquired 1.16 billion dinars, including 339.7 million dinars for the supply of pipes lining, 381.58 million dinars for the North Kuwait project for drilling, transportation and processing, and 447,161 for the South Kuwait project for drilling, transportation and processing. The Ministry of Health ranked second in terms of value, with awards amounting to 110.58 million dinars, while in the third place came the Ministry of Electricity and Water, with tenders amounting to 107.23 million dinars, and the Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company came in fourth place with tenders worth 68.06 million dinars, while fifth was the Ministry of Education’s tenders with a value of 31.32 million dinars, and the PAAAFR came sixth with 20.5 million dinars, while the Public Authority for Civil Information came seventh with 17.97 million dinars.

Repealed
In a related context, the Central Agency for Public Tenders called on the public contracting contractors previously classified with it in accordance with the provisions of the repealed Law No. 37 of 1964, to quickly update their data so that their classification category is re-evaluated in accordance with the Agency’s circular No. 1/2020 regarding the reorganization of the rules, procedures and standards for classifying contractors.

The General Contracting Contractors Classification Committee classifies the applicants into 4 categories, each according to its financial and technical position and previous work, those who may participate in tenders whose estimates are not less than 5 million dinars and not more than 100 million dinars, Small and Medium Enterprises who are allowed to participate in tenders whose estimates do not exceed two million dinars. The data showed that the top 3 tenders that took place in Kuwait during the past year in terms of value were concentrated in the Kuwait Oil Company, and they are as follows — 339.7 million dinars for the supply of lining tubes; 381.58 million dinars for the North Kuwait project for drilling, transportation and processing and 447.16 million dinars for the South Kuwait project for drilling, transportation and processing.