Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Awards Citi bags top honor for second straight year

MANILA, Philippines - For the second year in a row, the Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Awards (AREA) has recognized a community program led by Citi Philippines and funded by Citi Foundation.

The Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards (CMA) received the Social Empowerment Award and was commended for outstanding and exemplary achievements in social and responsible entrepreneurship during the 2014 AREA – Southeast Asia.  The awards presentation ceremony was held at Resorts World Convention Centre in Sentosa, Singapore.

Citi Philippines chief executive officer Batara Sianturi accepted the award from Sudhir Sharma, advisor to Enterprise Asia, the awarding body, and Dato William Ng, president of Enterprise Asia.

Launched in 2002, the CMA is a partnership among Citi Philippines, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and Microfinance Council of the Philippines (MCP).  In the last 11 years, CMA has recognized 93 men and women from around the country who through microfinance have found sustainable solutions to escape poverty for their families, and even their communities.

BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said that it was a privilege and joy for the BSP to work with our partners – Citi, Citi Foundation and MCPI – in implementing the CMA year after year.

The AREA-Social Empowerment Award reinforces the regulator’s conviction that microfinance was an effective tool for empowering low-income households to transcend poverty and improve their quality of life.

“We consider this award as an honor, not just for CMA, but also for the entire Philippine microfinance industry,” Tetangco added.

AREA is organized by Enterprise Asia to encourage continued corporate leadership towards sustainable economic development for the region. The Awards are held in four sub-regions of Asia: Southeast Asia, East Asia, South Asia, and West Asia, with a total of 32 countries participating to promote responsible entrepreneurship in Asia.

It recognizes organizations for their initiatives and impact towards the society and environment through their corporate sustainability projects in five categories: social empowerment, green leadership, health promotion, investment in people, and small and medium enterprise-corporate social responsibility.

In 2013, AREA presented the Social Empowerment award to Citi Microenterprise Development Center (CMDC), a partnership between Citi Philippines and Bayan Academy. 

Funded by Citi Foundation, the program seeks to address skills and knowledge gaps of high-potential micro business owners, and help them scale up to small, even medium-size businesses. 

Launched in 2010, CMDC has trained over 1,300 microentrepreneurs across the country.

Microenterprises play an important role in the development of any economy and society said Sianturi.

“At Citi, we are honored to have the opportunity to work with the BSP and the MCPI to comb the countryside each year for outstanding individuals that deserve recognition,” Sianturi added.