ABB U.A.E wins prestigious Arabia Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Award

At an exclusive gala dinner, held at the Burj Al Arab on October 26th, ABB won the coveted award in the hugely competitive ‘Large Company’ category.

Gary Foote, ABB regional head of occupational, health and safety and sustainability affairs, was thrilled at the news and attributed the award to ABB U.A.E’s long-term commitment to CSR in the Middle East region.

In his acceptance speech, Foote revealed, “We are extremely proud to have won this award tonight. Over the last 14 years, ABB U.A.E has integrated corporate social responsibility into our everyday business to contribute to sustainable economic development. We’ve been able to offer innovative products and solutions to the market, whilst lowering the environmental impact of our customers. We also work closely with our employees, the local community and society at large to improve the quality of life for people and the environment around us.”

The goal of the Arabia Corporate Social Responsibility Award, instituted by the Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, is to honor companies in the GCC and the wider Arab region that demonstrate a clear vision, strategy and implementation of CSR.

The award is also supported by the United Nations Global Compact - the largest and one of the most influential voluntary corporate citizenship networks in the world.

Amongst the night’s winners, ABB was the only international company to take home the coveted award.

Foote commented, “I think the award highlights the fact that even though ABB is an international company, we have really immersed ourselves into the local environment through our campaigns and programs since 1994. We sincerely hope this award and ABB’s programs encourage all companies – both big and small – to work towards creating and implementing a long-term CSR program for a better world.”

In the U.A.E, ABB supports the government’s green building initiative in Dubai to cut water and energy use and also supplies automation control technology for homes to reduce power consumption and emissions. ABB has also launched a number of initiatives supporting the professional development of women in the country.
Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia ABB offer students in the country a higher education scholarship program, and in Jordan ABB volunteers with INJAZ, which aims to inspire and teach Jordanian youth job skills to enhance their opportunities to join the job market.

In Egypt, ABB organizes a number of social events such as special ‘Community Days’ and blood donation drives. ABB also supports ‘The Hope Village for Orphans Care’ orphanage in 10th of Ramadan City through the donation of school supplies and clothes. Additionally, ABB Egypt is an active member of the UN Global Compact program.

In South Africa, ABB has designed a ‘Youth-in-Energy’ campaign to increase energy awareness and environmental responsibility in the country. ABB has also designed and implemented an internal energy program to reduce energy consumption in daily operations to lower its carbon footprint.

ABB U.A.E is one of the founding members of the Green Building Council, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), CSR Network, Emirates Environmental Group and the GCC Global Compact. ABB also supports a number of local colleges in the country through work-placement programs and a special ABB award presented to exceptional engineering students.

For its employees, comprising of 22 diverse nationalities, ABB provides long service awards, a Middle East pension plan scheme, annual ‘Family Day’ events and more. The company also engages staff in environmental programs such as the ‘Clean up the U.A.E’ campaign.

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 120,000 people.