FIDIC has relaunched its Capacity Building Committee as part of a significant strengthening and upgrading of its committee structure and international external affairs and stakeholder relations capability.

The revamped committee will improve the effectiveness of FIDIC’s work in identifying areas and appropriate capacity building responses and options to advance the capability of the consulting engineering industry. The committee also oversees the development of a FIDIC global training strategy and delivery mechanisms, including cooperation with other organisations and member associations, to build a FIDIC community to support capacity building.

Commenting on the relaunch of the committee, FIDIC chief executive Dr Nelson Ogunshakin said: “The relaunch of our Capacity Building Committee is part of a detailed and thorough review of FIDIC’s public engagement work where we have sought to ensure that our committees and other representative bodies better reflect geographic diversification and have the right skills set to be more effective in a changing marketplace. Competition was stiff to sit on these revamped committees, with over 350 industry experts from around the world applying to be members.

“The newly relaunched Capacity Building Committee, in common with a number of other revamped committees we will be announcing over the coming weeks, will enable FIDIC to be more external facing and help us to make a positive impact on and influence in the global infrastructure industry. Going forward, we plan to be more vocal and more visible to meet the challenges our industry faces as it moves out of the Covid crisis and beyond.”

The chair of the FIDIC Capacity Building Committee is Stephane Giraud, head of dams and hydraulic works at Egis in France. Commenting on his new role, he said: “Working as the engineer on projects for more than 25 years, I believe that the consulting engineering sector has the right skills and expertise to address the challenging issues of a FIDIC construction project. I’m delighted to be starting work as the chair of this important FIDIC committee and to collaborating with some very talented professionals from all around the world. 

“FIDIC with this committee has to play a key role in helping employers and contractors to enhance their capacity to manage projects. This may be through different means such as training and accreditations/credentialing in order to be sure that all parties work with the Golden Principles of FIDIC. This will be particularly the case for all parties involved in a project such as project engineers, contract managers, project managers, bankers, lawyers and adjudicators.
“The committee will also continue to promote FIDIC’s core principles of quality, integrity and sustainability and work towards better projects while creating positive impact in all the countries where we work.”

The full membership of the committee is listed below: -

Stephane Giraud (chair)
Head of Dams and Hydraulic Works, Egis (France)
Javier Sánchez Llopes (vice chair)
Associate Director, JS Held (Spain)
Lei Wu (vice chair)
Deputy Director, International Business, China National Association of Engineering Consultants
Andrea Rufini
Construction Project Manager (Italy)
Anton Van Langelaar 
Dispute Avoidance and Resolution Practitioner (South Africa)
Abdel Hafiz Abdel Moniem
General Manager, Alliance (Sudan)
Polat Ulgey
Senior Project Management Consultant, Cushman and Wakefield (Turkey)
Louis Gava
Junior Project Manager, Turner & Townsend (Uganda)
Neil Coker
Project Commercial Manager, BAM International (UK)
Amir Eftekhari
Senior Director International Relations, Jacobs (USA)
Patrick Kampengele
Managing Director, Knight Piesold (Zambia)
Cosmin Tobolcea
General Manager, Pro Toby (Romania)

The 12-strong committee, which will meet quarterly, will also advise the FIDIC board on all aspects of capacity building in the consulting engineering industry, offer support in the development and implementation of a global FIDIC credentialing programme, oversee and regularly review the execution and effectiveness of FIDIC’s training strategy and ensure that the organisation is kept updated with the latest trends in capacity building in the industry.