Remarks at The Secretary of State's Award for Corporate Excellence Ceremony

At the same time, we have acknowledged the partnership between the American public and private sector.

You see it in the way that American embassies support American business, and vice versa.

You see it in the way American companies contribute to innovative government initiatives -- for example, the Partnership for Prosperity with Mexico; the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act; and the forum for the Broader Middle East and North Africa.

You also see it when an American company makes investments that contribute to development and stability by offering a man or woman the dignity of a job. These jobs start the cycle of development by helping families send a child to school or invest hard-earned savings in a home or business.

What is particularly exciting to me is when a company finds a way to bring its core strengths – perhaps its distribution system, its technology or its accounting expertise -- directly to bear on the core needs of a community in which it lives and works. In this way, a corporation offers not just money, but the best of what it has to offer.

That does not mean that philanthropy and profits are distant cousins or that businesses should become social agencies. Thoughtful companies can contribute to their bottom line as they work with those at the “bottom of the pyramid”. The recent report to Secretary General Anan by Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo has shown clearly that unleashing entrepreneurship is one of the best ways to tackle poverty, and that empowering the poor can be a market opportunity that fuels corporate growth.

The two companies we recognized today, and indeed all the companies that were nominated for the Secretary of State’s Award for Corporate Excellence, have made major contributions to their communities. We want these contributions to be recognized. We want them to serve as models for others.

American investors overseas are America’s Corporate Ambassadors. You are purveyors of goodwill and conveyors of American values. You are on the front lines of business engagement, corporate citizenship and public diplomacy. You are helping to create a better, safer and more prosperous world.