Business Roundtable CEOs Appointed by White House to Lead New South Asia Earthquake Relief Fund; Current and Former CEOs of Citigroup, GE, Pfizer, UPS, Xerox to Lead Effort

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 9, 2005--Business Roundtable announced today that President Bush appointed five current and former Business Roundtable CEOs to lead an historic, nationwide effort to raise funds and increase awareness to help survivors of the South Asia earthquake rebuild their lives and communities. The South Asia Earthquake Relief Fund will complement the overall U.S. Government relief and reconstruction commitment - over $156 million to date - and will serve as a much needed supplement to government assistance due to the magnitude of the emergency.

On October 8, 2005, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. One month later, the death toll has exceeded 75,000, another 75,000 people have been injured and approximately 3 million individuals are homeless. Given the mountainous region and difficult weather conditions, the relief effort is expected to be protracted and expensive.

The five private sector leaders are: Hank McKinnell, Chairman and CEO of Pfizer Inc and Chairman of Business Roundtable; Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman and CEO of GE; Anne Mulcahy, Chairman and CEO of Xerox Corporation; Sandy Weill, Chairman of Citigroup; and Jim Kelly, former Chairman and CEO of United Parcel Service of America.

These private sector leaders will reach out to the American public and American business to urge contributions to the Fund through a special web site, www.southasiaearthquakerelief.org. They will also serve on an Advisory Committee, which will include Andrew S. Natsios, Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Moeen Qureshi, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, that will determine which organizations and projects will receive the money raised by the Fund. The Advisory Committee will ensure that experienced relief agencies working on-the-ground receive resources for critically needed relief and reconstruction activities.

"The American public and U.S. companies have proven their extraordinary generosity in quickly responding to help those whose lives have been tragically changed due to natural disasters," said Hank McKinnell, Chairman and CEO of Pfizer Inc and Chairman of Business Roundtable. "It is critical that we mobilize the private sector to ensure that there are sufficient resources to revitalize shattered communities and rebuild this region."

Business Roundtable's Partnership for Disaster Relief - an effort to coordinate the private sector response to natural disasters - will continue to track member company contributions through its web site, www.businessroundtable.org. The Roundtable activated the Partnership for Disaster Relief immediately after Hurricane Katrina struck and served as a communications hub on member companies' contributions to the relief effort. Roundtable member companies contributions to both the victims of the earthquake in South Asia and the victims of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma are listed on the Roundtable website.

Business Roundtable (www.businessroundtable.org) is an association of chief executive officers of leading corporations with a combined workforce of more than 10 million employees and $4 trillion in annual revenues. The chief executives are committed to advocating public policies that foster vigorous economic growth, a dynamic global economy, and a well-trained and productive U.S. workforce essential for future competitiveness.