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Oman in talks with UK for defence college
Oman is negotiating an agreement to build and operate a defence academy with an Omani-British joint venture for more than $1 billion.
- Staff Report
- Published: 00:00 February 21, 2007
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Abu Dhabi: Oman is negotiating an agreement to build and operate a defence academy with an Omani-British joint venture for more than $1 billion.
The head of the British government's Defence Export Services Organisation, Alan Garwood, was upbeat about the talks.
"There is a chance that the negotiations might be completed by the end of the month," he said.
According to the Defence News website, Serco and its partners in the Training College Consortium were selected in 2004 as the preferred bidders for a 30-year private finance initiative deal to build and operate the Oman Technical College.
The academy will centralise all military training by the Oman Ministry of Defence.
Some civilian training is also expected to be undertaken at the academy.
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At the time of the original announcement, the value of the deal was set at $1.4 billion, with a deal expected within four months.
That proved optimistic. The private finance initiative negotiations have taken three years - an experience replicated in the UK, where the concept of privately funded military service provision first took hold.
Serco has been a beneficiary of the British policy of contracting out services. One of its programmes is the management of the Joint Services Command and Staff College.
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