Bosch, the global supplier of technology and services, is the first company in the UAE to be certified to the new ISO 37001:2016 "Anti-bribery Management Systems" standard by TASNEEF-RINA Business Assurance L.L.C. The certificate will be presented to the General Manager and Vice President of Robert Bosch Middle East Volker Bischoff, and Bosch Middle East Compliance Manager Sarfraz Ahmed Khan, in the presence of Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, the Minister of Economy of the UAE. Al Mansoori, who is also the Chairman of the SCA board, emphasized the importance of implementing ISO standard 37001: 2016, saying: "As per the Corruption Perceptions Index 2016 issued by Transparency International, UAE took the lead of being transparent and excellent in Anti-bribery Management among Middle East and North African countries. This progress came as a result of the vision and directions of our leadership to improve the financial industry through systems and workflows that enforce corporate governance according to the world's best practices. Over years of fighting the corruption we feel confident now that we succeeded in building sustainable economy that is capable of facing all the future challenges. Making the UAE economy more diversified and creating a healthy competitive environment is a top priority for our government." Eng.Rashid AlHebsi, CEO of TASNEEF, said: "In order to fight corruption, we must join forces among all institutions. We understand the importance of building a safe environment that aims at enhancing the Arab region economy and we try to play this role. We are looking to be one of the world's leaders in promoting anti-bribery, anti-corruption, transparency and efficiency in corporate management. We are also proud to grant ISO 37001:2016 certificate to "Robert Bosch Middle East" to be the first German company to obtain this certificate. This makes Bosch an icon to be followed by other companies who aim at fighting bribery and eliminating all aspects of financial corruption." Volker Bischoff, General Manager and Vice President at Robert Bosch Middle East, said "this certification is testament to the importance of an ethical business landscape and to the Bosch way of working. At Robert Bosch Middle East, we believe in transparency and fully understand the value of an organization that operates in an ethical manner. We are proud of the trust TASNEEF-RINA Business Assurance has placed in us, and we look forward to continuing our work with both public and private entities in the UAE and regionally, providing diverse products and solutions." Robert Bosch Middle East is not only the first company in the area to be certified with this standard, but also the first German company in the world. The leading global supplier of technology and services has its regional headquarters in Dubai, from where it offers a wide range of high-quality products and solutions to its customers in 14 countries in the Middle East. The company sells automotive parts and equipment, drive & control technology, power tools, thermotechnology, and security systems to a broad customer base in the region. ISO 37001:2016 is based on internationally recognized good practices and it specifies the requirements and provides guidance for establishing, implementing, maintaining, reviewing and improving an anti-bribery management system and all related policies, procedures and compliance documents. Commenting on the main themes of the "Anti-bribery Management Systems", Dr. Obaid Saif Al Zaabi, Acting CEO of Securities and Commodities, said: "As part of our efforts to fight bribery and corruption, we have worked closely with TASNEEF to develop governance systems in the following areas: standards for business continuity, standards for social responsibility and standards for anti-bribery and corruption management. We encourage all the government entities and their subsidiaries to be compliant with this standard to be in line with the vision of making UAE the world leader in transparency and corporate governance." This step strengthens TASNEEF's primacy in specialized services and RINA's leading position in the anti-bribery certification sector. — SG
