We see how procurement is underpinning the growth of a brand-new city, with Expo City Dubai’s procurement leaders.

We speak to Anis Tabka, (SVP Procurement & Contracts), Hani Al Najjar (Director Of Procurement), Bogdan Cotirlan (Procurement and Contract Director) and Munmun Khaitan (Senior Manager of Procurement and Contracts).

Al Wasl Plaza Opening Show at Expo City Dubai. (Photo by Leoneil Roxas, Expo City Dubai)

The Middle East is changing. Possibly nowhere on Earth has transformed as quickly and dramatically.  

Dubai is a city spearheading this transition. Its city limits are pushing further and further in every direction, as the UAE metropolis undergoes incredible growth.  

Dubai is the focus of much of the world’s attention on the Middle East. None more so than when Expo 2020. The first World Expo in the Middle East North Africa & South East Asia region, attracted over 24 million visitors, despite the challenges of a global pandemic.

Procurement at Expo 2020

The theme of Expo 2020 was “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”. With three subthemes: Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability. Such was the scale behind the planning and delivery of the event, the ambitious project required highly experienced and talented project leaders and teams. From a procurement and supply chain perspective, that person was Anis Tabka.  

With a CV that lists some of the world’s biggest enterprises – latterly with Siemens and Du across multiple continents – Tabka was appointed as Expo 2020’s Chief Procurement Officer in 2019. A safer pair of hands they would have struggled to find. 

“Expo was getting closer to event time. And the need for efficiency and agility of the Procurement and Contracts departments was becoming increasingly critical,” Tabka tells us from his Dubai headquarters. “Understanding internal customers’ pain points, changing the processes and merging the Contracts and Procurement functions were implemented to address this.”  

Tabka also recognised that against such tight deadlines, it was essential to create a sense of trust with suppliers and ensure they felt like a valued part of the Expo journey. “We had to get things done, fast. Change was constant and decisions had to be made on the spot.” 

Read the full story here!

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