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Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C)
January 09, 2008
Citi Ecuador & Esquel Award Entrepreneurs Encounter Winners
Quito, Ecuador – Citi and Esquel concluded the fifth edition of the Entrepreneurs Encounter, which focused on diversity and the environment.
The program started August 2007, and counted with the registration of 91 participants, who presented their business projects. Thirty-one projects were selected as finalists on October 31. For a four-week period the entrepreneurs received business and financial training to help them elaborate their business plans.
As part of this training process participants attended Citi offices in Quito to attend a training program given by bank executives. During this session, Citi staff shared with the young entrepreneurs their knowledge on managing and running a company.
For five consecutive years, Esquel and Citi have organized and executed the Entrepreneurs Encounter. This year the Encounter was held in the northwest area of the Pichincha province.
In November, more than 60 entrepreneurs gathered to present their projects at the Encounter's Project Fair, held in the San Miguel de los Bancos Coliseum. Winners were selected by a specialized committee. The award ceremony was held January 9, on Citi premises.
During the ceremony, the three best projects were announced and the representatives received economic incentives, or start-up funds, to bring their business ideas to reality. The winners are the following:
First place: "Creating an agro-industrial company for the production of preserved foods and dairy products" presented by Luis Astudillo, José Astudillo y Carlos Minaya.
Second place: "Organic products commercialization" presented by Rommel Jumbo, Francisco Moncerrate, Patricio Iza and Rosa Torres.
Third place: "Returning health to the COLIBRI and the flower pollination," presented by Norberto Jumbo y Alva Saltos.
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Citi
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Citi's major brand names include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney and Banamex. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com.