RIYADH: The National Project Management, Operation and Maintenance Organization in Public Entities (Mashroat) has signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture to raise the efficiency of its facility and asset management, including its portfolio of 51 contracts across 1,800 project sites throughout the Kingdom.  The agreement was signed by the Deputy Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Mansour bin Hilal Al-Mashiati, the ministry’s Engineering Affairs Director Kanaan bin Essa Al-Kanaan, Assistant Minister of Economy and Planning Khaled bin Saud Al-Shonaifi and the Director General of Mashroat Ahmed bin Mutair Al-Balawi. The MoU is in line with Mashroat’s strategy to build partnerships with government entities involved in project, asset and facility management. Based on the agreement the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture will benefit from Mashroat’s professional standards in managing facilities and assets. The program will be implemented in a number of phases covering asset recording, upgrading the computer system, the introduction of a facility management implementation model, a reworking of the organizational and operational structure, updated evaluation policies, procedures and systems and an improved administrative and regulatory framework. Speaking at the signing, Al-Balawi said: “We welcome this partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture. The ministry has a large portfolio of infrastructure projects which are vital to millions of the Kingdom’s population and we are pleased to work alongside them to transform their operation and maintenance sector, and ensure they meet international standards. “Mashroat’s remit is to build cooperation across all government entities to support the Kingdom’s policy of adopting unified and international standards in facility, asset and project management.” Al-Kanaan said: “The ministry has projects covering 522 million square meters, including administrative buildings, parks, research centers, dams and other important facilities and projects. Based on our new cooperation with Mashroat we will benefit from its experience in order to manage our operation and maintenance portfolio in accordance with best international practices.” Mashroat is the state’s enabling arm for infrastructure projects. It provides consultancy and technical support to government agencies in project management, operation and maintenance in order to enhance the effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of the national infrastructure and ensure the projects are in line with global best practice and meet the ambitious aspirations of Vision 2030.