PDO first in region to get APM accreditation

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has become the first company in the Middle East to be successfully accredited by the Association for Project Management (APM) – the only chartered membership organisation for the project profession.

This accreditation confirms that the PDO Project Management competence development system is on a par with other major international capital-intensive organisations. Senior PDO Project Managers who have gone through the company’s competence development scheme will have a fast-track to attaining the coveted Chartered Project Professional (ChPP) status.

PDO Technical Director Sami Baqi said: “This is a great achievement and not only showcases the standard to which we work, but will showcase that our leaders in PDO have reached a level of competency that competes at a global level.”

PDO Head of Project Management Ali Cox added: “We are delighted to have achieved this milestone and thank APM for their diligence through this process. The safe and effective delivery of capital projects is central to our business, and we are confident that this accreditation will help our future project leaders to be equipped for the opportunities and challenges this entails.”

Milla Mazilu, Board Chair at APM said: “We are delighted to see APM’s chartered standard being adopted by PDO. This demonstrates a commitment to high standards and ethics in project delivery that will add value to their team, customers and stakeholders for years to come.”

The accreditation was presented to the PDO team at a ceremony held in London to celebrate this momentous achievement and was attended by PDO Head of Project Management Ali Cox and PDO Project Delivery Manager Said Maktoomi, as well as APM’s Board Chair Milla Mazilu, Director of Membership and Business Development Rebecca Fox, Deputy CEO Mark Hepworth and other team members.

UK Government Department for International Trade (DIT) representative, Sarah Chidgey, Head of International Education in the Services and Skills Directorate, who was also present at the award ceremony, said: “This is an exciting collaboration between the UK and Oman. DIT’s education team, as part of the International Education Strategy, promotes the UK’s vocational training system overseas, including the chartered status, as a hallmark of quality. I am sure this partnership with APM will make a real difference to employees of PDO. I hope that it will also inspire further skills partnerships between the UK, Oman, and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries in the future”.