DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: CITIBANK 2006 CORPORATE

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 001993

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR EB/CBA NSMITH-NISSLEY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: DR ECON BEXP ELAB ETRD KSEP SENV AMGT
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: CITIBANK 2006 CORPORATE
EXCELLENCE NOMINATION

REF: SECSTATE 64726

The US Embassy is pleased to recommend Citibank Dominican
Republic for the 2006 Secretary of State Award for Corporate
Excellence (ACE). Multinational enterprise Citibank should
be recognized for its exemplary business practices in the
Dominican Republic in the areas of education, micro credit,
and community development. End Summary.

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Citibank in the Dominican Republic
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For more than 40 years Citibank as contributed to the
economic and social development of the Dominican Republic.
It has to the helped the country not only as a financial
organization but also a charitable group. Through multiple
initiatives and programs, either using Citibank,s own
funding or in partnership with renowned local and
international non-governmental organizations, Citibank is
leaving its mark on the Dominican Republic as a socially
responsible company.

Citibanks Employee Volunteer Program encourages employees to
participate in several programs for various causes through
Habitat for Humanity, Fundacion Sur Futuro, Junior
Achievement Dominicana and through a special relationship
with Escuela Fundacion. Citibank Dominican Republic focuses
its efforts in three fundamental areas: financial education,
micro credit programs, and community development.

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Financial Education
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Citibank is a board Member of Junior Achievement Dominicana.
For the last 5 years Citibank Dominican Republic has had a
successful relationship with Junior Achievement programs and
especially with the "Banks in Action" program. More than 800
students from 20 different Dominican public and private
schools benefited from this project by learning basic
elements of bank management. Students had the opportunity to
participate in a nationwide competition and the winning team
went to Brazil for aregional competition.

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Micro-Credit Programs
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Citibank Dominican Republic has supported multiple micro
credit projects since 2002. The company is currently working
with Dominican NGO Sur Futuro on a Micro Credit Project for
Rural Communities in Azua, located in the southwest region of
the country. The project provides small business owners in
rural communities access to secure, efficient financing
sources that contribute to improving the quality of life in
the communities the businesses serve. Another objective of
the program is to assure the sustainability and permanence of
small businesses over the long term by providing them the
necessary training to acquire abilities to run their
businesses in an efficient manner for the long term.

As part of the program with Sur Futuro in Azua, a team of 34
Citibank employees volunteered for a reforestation campaign
during which they planted more than 3,000 trees.

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Community Development
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Citibank Dominican Republic sponsors Escuela Fundacion, a
school located in an impoverished area of Santo Domingo.
Citibank contributions to Escuela Fundacion include
restoration of the physical structure and facilities and
installation of innovative and dynamic learning tools for the
school to help create the best learning environment. In
addition, Dominican Citibank employees showed their support
by donating books, classroom chairs, clothes and; most
importantly, their own time to carry out these activities.
More than 1,500 children in the Escuela Fundacion community
have benefited from these contributions.

Another example of Citibank's commitment to community
development is its work with Habitat for Humanity. Through
its programs "Aiding Families in Risk" and "Building Hopes,"
Citibank Dominican Republic jointly with Citigroup Foundation
and Habitat for Humanity, have helped more than 8 families to
build their own houses. This will allow these Dominican
families to raise their children safely in the communities of
Nagua, Maria Trinidad Sanchez and Cabrera, locations where
Habitat for Humanity concentrates its operations. 25

Citibank employees participated in a one-day brigade trip
dedicated to the construction effort.

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Concluding Thoughts
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Dominican Citibank works hand in hand with the American
Chamber of Commerce's community committee and it is the only
banking institution that is a member of that committee. As a
result of Citibank,s strong belief in corporate social
responsibility, Citibank members on the AMCHAM committee
organized and hosted the first Social Responsibility Seminar
for companies in the Dominican Republic.

Given it long history of gernerous contributions to the
country, it is not surprising that in 2005 Citibank Dominican
Republic was featured in Dominican business journal "Mercado"
as one of the top Socially Responsible Companies in the
country. It is the only institution from the banking sector
to have received the honor.
KUBISKE