Conclusion of the First Version of the Qualifying Program to Audit the Percentage of Local Content

The Local Content and Governmental Procurement Authority and the Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants concluded the first version of the qualifying program for auditing and reviewing the percentage of local content in private sector entities. The program aims to transfer the necessary knowledge and skills and empower national professionals in the field of auditing the ratios of local content, with it being a new field in Saudi Arabia.
The qualifying program for auditing local content ratios is an extension of the cooperation signed between the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority and the Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants in order to qualify the accredited accounting firms to carry out auditing and reviewing the percentages of local content. This joint program has been designed in two parts, the first part contains the theoretical aspect and related clarification of the relevant accounting standards, the ethics and behaviors of the accounting and auditing profession approved in Saudi Arabia, in addition to the work of the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority as the agency responsible for verifying ratios and degrees of local content. The second part focuses on the practical side by enabling the trainees to acquire practical knowledge of the methodology for calculating local content and to know how to implement the approved procedures related to checking the ratios of local content.
The Vice President for Operations at the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority, Eng. Mohammed bin Moaid Al Qahtani, confirmed that "the qualifying program for auditing the ratios of local content contributes to developing procedures and processes for auditing local content and empowering young men and women in the country in the field of auditing the ratios of local content, which is an emerging field with the inclusion of local content requirements in the new government competition and procurement system." Al Qahtani added, "the success of the program is the first result of the cooperation agreement between the two bodies, through unifying efforts aimed at developing local content and benefiting from the expertise of the Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants to support it in qualifying accredited accounting firms. Other versions of the program will continue to be launched during the current year to train the largest possible number of certified accountants and auditors to measure the baseline of local content for entities, and to grant them a local content certificate that enables them to participate in government competitions that require a minimum for local content."
For his part, Dr. Musab bin Abdulrahman Al Juaid, Assistant Secretary-General at the Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants, expressed his hope that the efforts made by SOCPA with the Local Content and Governmental Procurement Authority would be crowned with success in the interest of the profession and its workers in Saudi Arabia, stressing the need to establish professional relations with government agencies, which would allow each party to benefit from what the other party has, looking forward to achieving the goal of the qualification program to support the Local Content and Governmental Procurement Authority in achieving its goals. Al-Juaid added that the cooperation comes within the framework of the supportive role provided by the Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants to meet the needs of other bodies in terms of accountants and auditors services, and that SOCPA will commit to implementing other versions of the program during the current year in coordination with the Local Content and Governmental Procurement Authority.
It is worth noting that the program will directly reflect on the procedures for measuring local content, facilitating and accelerating them, by increasing the number of accredited offices to audit the degree of local content, while maintaining the standards in force in the accounting and auditing profession, and the standards set by the Local Content and Governmental Procurement Authority to measure the percentage of content In private sector entities, SOCPA will work on granting auditors a certificate that enables them to carry out auditing work on the percentage of local content in the private sector.