MIDDLE EAST

How does procurement push costs down without forsaking ethics and sustainability ? Brown explains : “ The bank has very strong ties on sustainability . We do a report every year , and procurement is a large part of that in terms of how we manage the supplier database , and how we do business with people . Our policy is clearly mandated .”

Brown ’ s team conduct investigations with suppliers to make sure that NBAD isn ’ t associated with practices such as slave labour and child labour . “ We take those seriously and we will investigate if it is brought up to us , we have a supplier portal where we do a lot of supplier due diligence , making sure we ’ re dealing with the right partners ,” he explains .

The procurement team is also committed to supporting local Abu Dhabi companies wherever possible . Brown explains : “ Quite a chunk of NBAD spend is spent locally with Abu Dhabi companies to keep the money sustainable within Abu Dhabi and the UAE .”

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