2006 Award for Corporate Excellence Finalists Selected

The 12 finalists for 2006 are: APCO in China for promoting best business practices and fighting against HIV-AIDS on a pro bono basis; Chevron in Indonesia for earthquake and tsunami relief, vocational training and promoting anti-bribery practices; Coca-Cola in Mexico for building schools and shelters and micro-enterprise training; Delta Construction in Vietnam for vocational training centers and maintaining zero tolerance for corruption; General Motors in Colombia for reintegrating demobilized former paramilitary members into Colombian society; Goldman Sachs in Chile for endowing a gift of 680,000 acres of Patagonian wilderness to the Wildlife Conservation Society for a nature preserve; Kerr McGee in Benin for humanitarian and development projects and financing construction of schools; McDonald's in Guatemala for its Ronald McDonald House and for helping to fund a biomedical laboratory; Microsoft in Egypt for Internet learning centers, IT labs in orphanages and for training unemployed youth in IT usage; Motorola in Iraq for contributing to security and safety, and for successful deployment under challenging conditions; Pfizer in Pakistan for earthquake response, for providing computer skills to high-schoolers and for healthcare clinics for women and children; Sambazon in Brazil for promoting sustainable development in the Brazilian rainforest while improving the economic condition of indigenous people.

“These activities exhibit the best qualities that America can embody overseas - compassion, innovation, leadership and community involvement. In each of these companies there are leaders who have the vision to look beyond the bottom line, build lasting bridges to their host countries, and improve the lives of countless men, women and children around the world,” said Josette Sheeran, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business & Agricultural Affairs.

The Secretary of State has awarded the ACE since 1999 in recognition of the role that U.S. businesses play in advancing good corporate citizenship, innovation and democratic principles. The Department of State is committed to working with American business to further these best practices worldwide and to recognize the contribution business makes to improving lives at home and abroad.

One or more winners will be selected from these 12 finalists. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will announce the 2006 ACE winners on November 6 at an awards ceremony at the State Department in Washington , DC . For more information, please visit the ACE website, http://www.state.gov/e/eeb/cba/bs/ace/ , or contact Viktor Sidabras, Public Affairs Advisor, at email, SidabrasVA@state.gov .

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