National Bank of Kuwait has been selected for the leading FTSE4GOOD Index

Saturday 27 July 2019

Kuwait City - MENA Herald:

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) announced that based on FTSE4Good’s June 2019 index review, NBK has been selected to be a constituent of the FTSE4Good Index Series. NBK is the only Kuwaiti bank to be included in the prestigious sustainability index.

Russell’s FTSE4Good Index Series, widely regarded as one of the world’s leading Environment-Social-Governance (ESG) indices, is a key tool in helping investors identify companies that meet globally recognized sustainability standards.

“Over the last three years, NBK has been proactively evolving our sustainability performance, with a plan to fully meet global sustainability-related standards and to strengthen our position among the leading ESG companies in the GCC,” said Nasser Musaed Al–Sayer, NBK Group Chairman.

“FTSE4Good valuable recognition of NBK Group is a testament to our hard work across the sustainability spectrum over the years. .” Al-Sayer noted.

“We are extremely proud of our notable contributions to laying solid foundations for sustainable development in line with the strategic national development plan “New Kuwait 2035”. This is perfectly aligned with our leading position that we firmly established through our significant contributions to key environmental and social responsibility initiatives across Kuwait as we aim to provide a model for sustainable development best practices that is focused on our commitment to all national and international regulatory and industrial sustainability frameworks."

NBK has long been considered a leader throughout the Middle East in corporate social responsibility, having donated around KWD 200 million over the last 20 years, including some major financial contributions to dozens of worthy charities and exciting community activities, most notably NBK Children’s Hospital.

Over the past three years, NBK has expanded the scope of its social contributions in line with the Global Reporting Initiative (known as GRI Standards). NBK has also maintained the good practice of issuing comprehensive Sustainability Reports in 2016, 2017, and 2018.

Through its clearly defined sustainability goals, NBK managed to reduce its consumption of power by 5.9%, water by 22%, greenhouse gas emissions by 6.8%. the Bank also recycled 92.3 tons of paper, and NBK Tower, its LEED Gold Certificated new echo friendly headquarters, is almost completed.

On the social sustainability front, NBK’s commitment towards its customers was reflected in a new record high customer satisfaction rating of 96% in 2018 (3 points higher than 2017).

NBK has always been keen on employees’ development, with last year’s development and training programs topping over 80,302 hours. Moreover, female representation in NBK work force exceeds over 45%.

NBK plays a major role in promoting sustainable development in Kuwait, as it is the key financing partner to the Kuwaiti government in implementing the developmental and environmental projects, mainly the Clean Fuel Project, solar energy projects, Kabad Water Treatment Plant and the wastewater treatment project, in addition to providing financing facilities to major housing, water treatment and hospital building projects.

NBK is keen on achieving six key sustainability focus areas, as follows:

Serving Customers
Caring for Our Environment
Contributing to Sustainable Economic Development
Respecting & Developing People
Giving Back to the Community
Leading in Governance

Thanks & Appreciation

On behalf of NBK Group Board of Directors, Chairman, Mr. Nasser Al-Sayer, expressed his gratitude and appreciation to all NBK employees across various departments from entry levels to senior executive positions for their loyalty, dedication and efforts that led to such significant achievement.

Al-Sayer affirmed NBK’s keenness to involve all employees in implementing NBK strategic plan aimed at promoting that “Sustainability is Everyone's Responsibility”.

NBK’s Key Contributions in Strengthening Sustainably in 2018