Yes, please. Thank you, Deputy.
Mr. Chair, you've heard the expression that it takes 20 years to develop a 20-year sergeant, and the same is true for project managers. We've made some great strides. That said, we've made some great strides in the last three years in particular in improving the capacity of not just our project managers but also of our engineering and procurement officers. In fact, in the last couple of years we've increased the number of engineers by about 57% and the number of procurement officials by over 50%.
On the issue of project managers themselves, we've been working to identify the competencies they need. What knowledge set do they need? What kind of experience should they develop through the course of their careers? What kind of management and leadership abilities should we develop?
We establish those competencies and apply the learning and training strategies. Also, because not everybody makes a great project manager, succession management is quite active within the group; we identify those people with the right kinds of aptitudes and background, and we develop those people fully. We can develop people from the $10 million projects through to the $50 million projects to the $100 million projects and the $1 billion projects. It's a very good question.