Citi Pakistan Wins Corporate Social Responsibility Award 2007

Citibank N.A. Pakistan Only Financial Institution Awarded at Second CSR National Excellence Awards

Karachi – Citibank N.A. Pakistan was among the twelve corporations that took home the highly-coveted CSR National Excellence award for outstanding Corporate Social Responsibility. The winners, saluted at an event held last week were lauded for both the execution of successful CSR initiatives and for effectively communicating those efforts to various constituencies.

Winners were awarded under two broad categories that included environmental initiatives and community services that took in to account a several factors critical to CSR success, from sustainability to Employee Communications to Community Relations.

Presented by the CSR Association of Pakistan and the NGO Help International Welfare Trust Pakistan (HIWT), the program seeks to honor corporations that have successfully demonstrated that altruism, philanthropy and employee commitment to “do good” can go a long way towards making an impact on a community, key stakeholders, and a company’s bottom line.

It is a point to be noted that Citibank N.A. was the only financial institution to be awarded in its category.

Citi’s CSR portfolio has been impressive. Its work in the development of corporate governance standards and the local microfinance sector particularly via the establishment of the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards program were key factors that led to the judges’ decision. Also considered were Citi’s philanthropic efforts through its philanthropic arm, “Citi Foundation,” and its unswerving commitment to fostering and encouraging employee volunteerism.

Speaking at the award presentation, which was attended by senior staff from across several business sectors, the President of the Association, S. Arif Ali, congratulated Citibank N.A. Pakistan on the consistency of its efforts and highlighted the bank’s impressive record both via its philanthropic arm Citi Foundation and through its structured encouragement of employee volunteerism.

Accepting the award, Mr. Rayomond Kotwal, Chief of Staff, Citibank N.A. Pakistan, said, “At Citi, we aspire to be known as a company dedicated to community service, taking a leadership role in every local community around the world in which we operate, and making a positive difference in the communities where we live and work. Since 2002, the Citi Foundation has given more than PKR 160 million (US$ 2.7 million) by way of grants in Pakistan. This is over and above our efforts at volunteering, which have amounted to PKR 420 million (US$ 7 million) for the earthquake alone.”