Etisalat to reduce procurement costs via Tejari

Etisalat will utilize the Tejari marketplace to procure goods for its more than 40 offices and service centres throughout the UAE.

Etisalat's management estimates that migrating from its existing procurement systems to the Internet-based model delivered by Tejari could increase the efficiency of its procurement operations and significantly decreasing its trading costs.

Because of the range of sophisticated technologies required by Etisalat's expanding telecom and ISP organizations, the company is particularly drawn to the market reach and transparency afforded by Tejari's online auction process. From Tejari's perspective, welcoming to the marketplace the only UAE firm recently named among the world's largest 500 companies included in the Financial Times Index presents sizeable business opportunities for its trading partners.

"In order to ensure a consistently high level of service to our growing subscriber base, we're constantly looking for suppliers that can provide and implement a diverse range of technologies in the landline, GSM, and Internet provision sectors. Tejari membership will immediately introduce Etisalat to a pre-qualified community of leading vendors, considerably reducing the time we spend sourcing equipment," said Mohammad Hassan Omran, Acting President and CEO, Etisalat.

"As a world-class service provider, Etisalat ensures the fairness and transparency of its procurement practices. Our partnership with Tejari will also help us ensure that we're offering opportunities to a range of trading partners in the UAE, regionally, and globally," he added.

Given Etisalat's aggressive timeline for the introduction of new products and its own business-to-consumer online offerings, a more streamlined buying cycle that enables suppliers to deliver their wares more quickly seems likely to have a knock-on effect for Etisalat's delivery to the UAE market.

"Etisalat was one of the first UAE-based enterprises to capitalize on the potential of e-business in transforming its own customer-facing services. We're delighted that Etisalat is partnering with Tejari to similarly streamline and enhance its relationships with suppliers and the company's internal processes, and certainly Tejari's existing members will benefit from a range of new trading opportunities with this latest addition to our online community," said Sheikha Lubna Al-Qasimi, Tejari's CEO.

As evidence of its growing reach into the region's communications sector, Tejari also secured Jordan Telecom as a trading partner less than six months ago. The company continues to build its vertical industry expertise in the communications and technology markets.