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Project Management Institute-Arabian
Gulf Chapter History
After an
initial survey of interest of PMI members in Saudi Arabia and
the Arabian Gulf Region in late 1991, Richard Hauptmann filed a
letter of intent to form the Arabian Gulf Chapter on April 10,
1992.
An initial explanatory discussion was held in Al-Khobar on April
23, 1992 among Richard Johnson, Cliff Newcomb and Richard
Hauptmann to plan formation of the chapter. Following this
meeting, a membership campaign was launched featuring both
individual contact and mailings.
As a result of this, on August 27, 1992, sixteen people met for
dinner at the Meridian Hotel in Al-Khobar, Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, to discuss the formation of a Project Management
Institute Chapter in the Arabian Gulf area. It was agreed to
proceed with a formation of a Chapter and interim officers were
elected:
Richard C. Hauptmann -
President
Saleh A. Al-Yami -
Vice President
Edward H. Heard -
Treasurer
Mohammed Abdulrahim -
Secretary
Mike Roberts
- Director of Membership
High interest in a Gulf Chapter was and continues to be apparent
and with the second meeting in October, 1992, the membership
committee was demonstrating results in increased registrations
and attendance at the meetings. Thirty-six professionals
attended this meeting. Our first speaker, Mr. W.A. Wenger, Vice
President and Program Manager of John Brown, Inc. spoke of their
organization and approach to project management. As an
indication of corporate support for the prospective chapter,
Saudi Aramco sponsored this meeting.
The third meeting in December featured Mr. George Hull of
Bechtel, Inc. who first came to Saudi Arabia in the late 1940's.
He spoke on the development and construction of Jubail, a
planned industrial city which was recently listed in "The
Guinness of World Records" as the largest public works project
ever built.
By December of 1992, we reached the minimum requirements of 25
PMI members building professionalism through project management,
and by early 1993, we had 42 PMI members, two-thirds of whom
have joined PMI as a direct result of the prospective Arabian
Gulf Chapter's organizational efforts.
In keeping with the Chapter's Gulf wide intentions, the first
meeting of 1993 was held in the State of Bahrain on 21 January
and 29 potential and registered members attended. Mr. Abdullah
G. Al-Ghanim, Senior Vice President, Engineering & Project
Management.
Saudi Aramco, spoke on Aramco's "Quality Improvement Program".
The proposed constitution, by-laws and financial plans were
presented in final draft form and discussed. An informal meeting
was convened in Riyadh in late February 1993, to develop further
interest in that area. This gathering was attended by the
membership director, president, eight other current members and
seven other interested professionals.
In March 3, 1993, the chapter application was submitted to the
Vice President, Region I, Project Management Institute, in
Vancouver, Canada, for the proposed Arabian Gulf Chapter of the
Project Management Institute. In accordance with the by-laws,
and upon review of the petition to form a local organization,
the board of directors of the Project Management Institute
approved this charter in March 1993.
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