Microsoft India amongst finalists for US Secretary of State's Award for Corporate Excellence

Microsoft India is featured amongst a list of 11 US companies selected for the prestigious Secretary of State's Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE) 2008. These US companies were chosen from 61 nominations submitted by American ambassadors around the world.

ACE finalists are international business leaders who recognize the vital role that US businesses play abroad as good corporate citizens. The Secretary has awarded ACE since 1999 to recognise US businesses for advancing good corporate citizenship, innovation, and democratic principles. This is part of the its commitment to working with business to further these best practices worldwide and to recognise efforts to improve lives at home and abroad.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will announce the 2008 ACE winners on 6 November at an awards ceremony at the State Department.

The eleven finalists for 2008 are:

1. Microsoft India for empowering small and medium enterprises, promoting economic development, and strengthening innovation through strategic product development, including improved technology for HIV/AIDS and TB diagnosis.
2. Cargill China for its public-private partnership efforts to prevent the spread of disease, foster environmental stewardship, contribute to disaster relief, implement innovative food safety training programs.
3. Dole Philippines for its environmental stewardship and role in improving quality of life through education, training, environmental protection and health programs.
4. Esso Angola for its public-private partnership's efforts in leading the fight against malaria and HIV/AIDS, and for its literacy programs for women and girls.
5. Google Brazil for its efforts to empower Amazon indigenous people through digital technology in support of their efforts to stop land encroachment and practice a sustainable forest management that would improve their economic well-being.
6. Occidental de Colombia for developing a range of educational programs for local communities, for its exemplary environmental stewardship, and for its commitment to human rights.
7. Starbucks Guatemala for supporting fair trade in coffee, for providing educational and health programs for the underprivileged, and for promoting sustainable development.
8. STM Telecom Sanchar  Nepal for providing needed services where others feared to go because of security concerns, for technical training and contributions to the development of rural technology, and for innovative health care programs.
9. Surevolution Colombia for providing a unique combination of free and fair trade and good corporate citizenship, for helping indigenous artisans obtain sustainable wages, and for providing economic opportunities to at-risk populations.
10. Virtusa  Sri Lanka for providing the country with an effective disaster recovery system that is widely used throughout the region, and for providing widespread IT skills training.
11. Weyerhaeuser Uruguay for supporting social and charitable programs that benefit local communities, for providing safety and injury prevention training, and for protecting the local environment with green energy generation and education.