| | Award for Corporate Excellence
 Secretary Rice presents 2005 Award for Corporate Excellence to small-medium enterprise winner Lapa Rios Co-Founder Karen G. Lewis. | The Award for Corporate Excellence, established by the State Department in 1999, recognizes the important role U.S. businesses play abroad as good corporate citizens. The Award sends a strong signal of the Department's commitment to further exemplary practices worldwide and highlights our increasing role in business-related issues. Winners include both multinational (MNE) and small-to-medium size enterprises (SME).
Secretary Rice presents 2005 Award for Corporate Excellence to multinational enterprise winner Cisco Systems, Inc., CEO John T. Chambers. | The Secretary of State announced the 2005 ACE winners on November 2 at an awards ceremony at the State Department. [Photo Gallery]
U.S. companies are nominated by Chiefs of Mission and the winners are recognized with a handsome, copyrighted award in a formal ceremony hosted by the Secretary of State in Washington, DC. The ceremony, attended by representatives from Congress, the Diplomatic Corps and leaders from both the business and NGO communities includes participation, via satellite, with winning Chiefs of Mission, in-country company executives and invited guests. The event is open to the media in Washington and overseas. | |