POST NOMINATES CITIBANK FOR SECRETARY'S CORPORATE CITIZEN

UNCLAS ISLAMABAD 001248 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AMGT BEXP ECON EINV ELAB ETRD SENV AID KPAO PK SUBJECT: POST NOMINATES CITIBANK FOR SECRETARY'S CORPORATE CITIZEN AWARD REF: STATE 51406 ¶1. Embassy Islamabad nominates Citibank for the Secretary's Award for Corporate Excellence. Citibank has long been a leading corporate citizen in Pakistan, notably in its response to the devastating earthquake in October 2005, which included a $1.9 million grant to the American Red Cross-Citi Earthquake Reconstruction project and $3.5 million for the construction of a primary school in Mansehra District. ¶2. The breadth of Citibank's activities has been impressive, ranging from supporting girls' schools in the slums of Karachi to constructing an oncology day care unit at Aga Khan University Hospital. ¶3. It has done much of its work, however, in the micro-finance and micro-entrepreneurship fields, reaching out to the underprivileged in Pakistan to enable them to move into the middle class. Citibank has given $265,000 annually for three years to deepen the microfinance sector in Pakistan. In 2005, it instituted the Citi Micro-entrepreneurship Awards to spread awareness among the poor on the significance of microfinance by celebrating the achievements of successful micro-entrepreneurs. In the last three years, 120 micro-entrepreneurs have taken home $85,000 in prize money. Citbank has given $106,000 to the Thardeep Rural Development Program to train 2,000 female entrepreneurs in 40 villages in Tharparkur. It has given $40,000 to the Kashf Foundation initiative to develop individual lending products for micro-finance clients, as well as $50,000 to the Tameer Foundation to provide support for potential micro-finance clients. ¶4. Citi has donated $200,000 to the Aga Khan Foundation's health improvement initiative for underprivileged women and children; $224,000 to support quality girls' education in non-elite private schools; $25,000 to improve the I.T. University of Baluchistan's resource center. It has joined with the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy to support large scale improvements to the school system in interior Sindh, and a grant to the Citizen's Foundation to sustain schooling in the slum areas of Karachi. It has given $220,000 to the Lahore University of Management Science to research ways of improving corporate governance. ¶5. In addition, Citibank has a program whereby employees involved in public service can obtain Citi Foundation grants to support the organizations for which they volunteer. ¶6. Citibank's corporate philosophy of giving back to the communities where it has a presence is well exemplified in the many initiatives its supports in Pakistan, and make it an excellent candidate for the Secretary's award. PATTERSON