UNDP and Citi Foundation Launch Regional Program to Accelerate Youth Entrepreneurship for Social ChangeUNDP and Citi Foundation Launch Regional Program to Accelerate Youth Entrepreneurship for Social Change

A regional program that targets social challenges and unemployment by harnessing youth leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation was launched by the United Nations

Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with Citi Foundation.

The global youth unemployment rate is currently over 13 percent*, that is about 71 million young people, aged 15 to 24, are unemployed worldwide and about half of these live in Asia Pacific.

In addition, the Global Youth Survey 2017: Economic Prospects & Expectations study commissioned by Citi Foundation found that of the 7,000 respondents polled, 69% had dreams of starting their own business but only 44% were trying to do so, citing a lack of education and skills and concerns of failure.

The survey polled respondents across 45 cities worldwide. A majority of 78% also agreed that apprenticeships and internships were critical to future success but 60% did not feel that there were enough of such opportunities in their cities.

Targeted at helping young people overcome some of these challenges, the Youth Co:Lab program will convene a series of National Dialogues and Social Innovation Challenges across Asia-Pacific that will culminate in a Regional Summit to be held in Bangkok in March 2018.

The National Dialogues serve as platforms for young people to directly engage policy makers, private sector partners including incubators, youth-led organizations, NGOs and academia, on how to develop and accelerate youth-led entrepreneurship and social innovation.

Alongside the National Dialogues, the Social Innovation Challenges, akin to start-up

hackathons, enable participating youth to showcase their proposed ideas and solutions to tackle some of the world’s biggest social challenges.

Through these platforms, young entrepreneurs will connect with governments, mentors, incubators, and investors who will help equip them with entrepreneurial capabilities and skills. This includes mentoring and networking opportunities as well as support to start and accelerate their social enterprises.

UNDP and Citi Foundation launch their partnership during the Youth Co:Lab National

Dialogue: Inspiring Innovators, Leaders, Entrepreneurs and Actors for Development (i2 LEAD), held at Makati City. The two-day Dialogue brings together some 100 delegates including government officials, private sector participants, academia and youth representatives to identify challenges and solutions to improve the support and ecosystem for youth entrepreneurship in the Philippines.

Speaking at the launch, Jim McCue, Citi Shared Services Asia Pacific/Japan Head and Risk Shared Services Manila Head said, “We are proud to be partnering with UNDP to empower young people to take control of their future. Youth Co:Lab is part of Citi and the Citi Foundation’s Pathways to Progress** initiative to prepare urban youth to thrive in today's economy. We are doing our part by collaborating with municipal and community leaders in cities around the world to tackle youth unemployment. In addition, I firmly believe that empowering young people to lead through entrepreneurship and social innovation is a critical part of the solution.”

Statistics show many Asia Pacific countries are experiencing a “youth bulge” with adolescents and young adults making up a third of the population. In the Philippines, the median age of its population is 24.2 years and 32% of the 103.5 million population is under 15. It has the third youngest population in the ASEAN after Laos and Cambodia.

“The youth of the Philippines’ not only have a stake in the country’s development trajectory but can also play a critical role in shaping that trajectory. The challenge is to harness the creativity and dynamism of the young and align these to tackling some of the country’s most significant development challenges. UNDP is delighted to work with Citi Foundation in providing a platform to enable youth-led social enterprises to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs in the Philippines,” UNDP Philippines Country Director Titon Mitra said

“We hope to catalyse youth innovations, provide young entrepreneurs with better access to market information and business skills, and with government, provide a better enabling environment for youth-led enterprises. With Citi Foundation, we hope to inspire young innovators, leaders and entrepreneurs to become influential and successful actors for development.”

UNDP and Citi Foundation, alongside local network partners, are pioneering the National Dialogue & Social Innovation Challenge in various countries in Asia Pacific. In its inaugural year, key countries including Thailand, Philippines and China are being piloted and plans are already underway to scale up the Youth Co:Lab program across the region next year.

For updates, follow #YouthCoLab on social media, and visit the Youth Co:Lab Facebook.

Citi named Consumer Bank of Year by Asian Investor Magazine

Citi has been named the leading Consumer Bank in Asia by AsianInvestor Magazine for its wealth management business. The award was selected by the editorial team of the magazine and was based on the bank’s superior wealth management platform in Asia Pacific.

In the editorial write up accompanying the award, the magazine said: “Citi’s wealth management business in Asia rode out powerful headwinds to enjoy strong performance, partly as a result of its enhanced portfolio management tools, digitalization and client engagements.”

During the last 12 months, Citi continued to enhance its client engagement tools, such as rolling out the Portfolio 360 offering to new markets and launching the new Citigold Diversification Index (CDI). Portfolio 360 provides comprehensive investment analytics reports under various stress test scenarios and the CDI assesses client’s portfolio diversification across asset classes. Both have helped further support clients of the bank in the region to assess their portfolios and navigate sometimes challenging markets.

The bank’s client assets under management are now over US$210bn across the 12 markets in Asia where the bank offers consumer banking services.

Product-wise, Citi expanded its open-architecture fund offering to include liquid alternatives, and continued to onboard new funds to offer non-correlated products. It also moved to further enhance the wealth management knowledge of its relationship managers partnering with the prestigious Wharton Business School of the US on a three-year executive education programme.

“A key competitive advantage for Citi is being able to deliver expertise in wealth management by raising the level of advisory through new tools and an expanded product offer via our open architecture platform delivered by a highly skilled team of relationship managers, portfolio counselors and product specialists. It is a real honor to receive the AsianInvestor Consumer Bank award for the fourth-consecutive year as recognition for our team in Asia,” said Paul Hodes, Head of Consumer Banking Wealth Management for Asia Pacific.

In the Philippines, Citi pioneered wealth management in the early 1990s and continues to enjoy a strong market lead with its wide range of products, customized advice and groundbreaking digital platform.  Most recently, it launched Citi Model Portfolio, a diversification and asset allocation guide designed to aid clients to make informed investment choices.

“Coming after the introduction of the online Insurance Gap calculator, which allows our clients to find out in minutes if they’ve done enough to protect themselves and their families financially, the Citi Model Portfolio once again empowers our customers to make decisions to grow their wealth and secure their future.  All these showcase our commitment to our clients, and that we value their choice of Citi as their financial partner,” said Bea Tan, Head of Consumer Banking for Citi Philippines.

Citi Philippines wins Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand award for 9th consecutive year

The award was received by Citi Philippines’ Consumer Banking Head Bea Tan and Credit Payment Products head David Stoughton recently at the Marco Polo Ortigas Hotel.

Reader’s Digest has been giving the Trusted Brand awards for the past seventeen years based on a survey of ordinary consumers who give their opinions on what brands of products and services are important to them. According to Readers Digest, “A Trusted Brand enjoys international appeal, yet at the same time upholds a strong local connection. It has individual relevance for all its consumers, just about anywhere and in any culture.”
“Citi is a household name in the Philippines in large part because of our credit card offering, and we thank the consumers that participated in the survey for acknowledging the strength of our brand and for choosing us as their bank,” said Aftab Ahmed, CEO of Citi in the Philippines.

“This recognition is especially welcome as we celebrate 25 years of leadership in credit cards in the Philippines and we wish to assure our clients that we remain focused on delivering excellence both in terms of product and service,” added Ahmed.
A global market research company was commissioned to survey a representative sample of people in Asia on their most trusted brands in 42 categories of products and services across a wide range of industries.   Approximately five thousand individuals were selected across five of
Asia's key markets: Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan.  The brands are then rated by respondents based on the following six attributes: trustworthiness and credibility, quality, value, understanding of consumer needs, innovation and social responsibility.

Gold Trusted Brand Awards are given to brands that scored significantly higher than their rivals while the Asia Trusted Brand Awards are given to a brand that wins the Reader's Digest Trusted Brand award in the same category for at least three countries surveyed.

Enjoy Exclusive 20% Off Tickets to Chris Botti Concert with Citi Credit Cards

Citi cardholders can grab an exclusive 20% discount on ticket prices to the highly-anticipated concert “Chris Botti and Sting, Together Up Close and Personal” when they purchase from now until March 3, 2016.

The concert, slated on March 3, 2016 at the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott Hotel in Resorts World Manila, features jazz trumpeter Chris Botti, whose 2012 album “Impressions” won the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album. The multi-awarded Botti has performed alongside legendary musicians such as lead singer Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, composer David Foster, tenor Josh Groban and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, among others.

Botti will perform on stage together with iconic musician Sting, a multi-instrumentalist and lead singer of the popular British rock band “The Police” who gained fame for hits such as "Don't Stand So Close to Me", “Every Breath You Take”, and "Message in a Bottle." Sting will sing a number of his greatest hits during the concert.

Prepare to listen to a night of world-class jazz and rock music from these legendary artists. Use your Citi credit or your Citi debit card to get your discounted tickets to “Chris Botti and Sting, Together Up Close and Personal” at all TicketWorld outlets or through www.ticketworld.com.ph today!

Learn more about exclusive concert privileges and other promotions available only from Citi cards at www.citibank.com.ph, or call the 24-hour CitiPhone Hotline at 995 9999.

*This is Press Release

Get Up to 20% discount at Toby’s with Citi Credit Cards

 

Holiday shopping just got merrier as Citi, the country’s leading global bank, rewards its valued cardholders with a host of irresistible offers from the largest sports store chain in the country, Toby’s Sports.

From now until January 2016, use your Citi credit card to avail of 0% Citi PayLite and get 15% discount on all regular-priced items on participating Toby’s brands. You can shop through a wide range of premium sports and fitness gear, and pay in easy, light monthly installments of up to 6 months.

On top of the generous discount, Citi cardholders can get additional 5% on all fitness equipment worth P10,000 and higher. Make your athletic loved ones and fitness buddies happy this holiday season and treat them with Toby’s wide range of fitness equipment, including treadmills, exercise bikes, dumbbells, kettlebells, and weight benches at discounted prices.

Plus, avail of Citi PayLite, Pay Later where cardholders can start paying up to three months later. You can take advantage for purchases of at least P3,000 of any regular-priced items from select brands of Toby’s. The participating brands include Newton, Lotto Footwear, Mitre, Core Fitness, RSL, Equipe balls, SGM Bikes, and Titans Boxing.

Toby’s Sports offers some of the best sports and fitness gear from premium brands like Adidas, Nike, Under Armour, Rebook, Vans, Wilson, Prince, TYR, Speedo, Yonex, and RSL among others.

For more information about Citi’s PayLite and Pay Later offers, log on to www.citibank.com.ph or call the 24-hour Citi Phone Hotline at 995 9999. 

*This is Press Release