Two of Hungary's largest global corporations, Citigroup and The Procter and Gamble Company Gillette Business Unit, are teaming up to help improve Hungarian financial and economic education. Contributions from the Citigroup Foundation and The Procter and Gamble Company, Gillette Business Unit are funding an 'Economics for Leaders' programme in Csillebérc, near Budapest from August 7 - 13, for 30 Hungarian high school students, selected for their leadership potential, and 30 Hungarian high school teachers.

The week-long programme is a subset of the 'Economics for Leaders' programmes conducted by the Foundation for Teaching Economics (FTE) in the United States and takes place during the second week of August.  Junior Achievement, Hungary - the FTE's partner in this programme - selects students and teachers from all regions of Hungary to attend and also assists with the leadership instruction.

'Economics for Leaders' is designed to give Hungary's future leaders a better understanding of the free market system and the skills to motivate others.  The programme is also carefully designed to give the 30 high school social studies teachers, who come from all parts of Hungary, professional development training, showing them how to use interactive teaching techniques to make economics more understandable. 

During the week, students will be given insight into economic behaviour, an economic way of thinking about public policy choices, and an appreciation for different leadership styles. Teachers become better educators, leaving with new teaching strategies, a more complete understanding of economic concepts, and simulations, games and materials to make economics exciting to students. The staff includes both American and Hungarian instructors. There are no tuition fees for either students or teachers to attend.

The Foundation for Teaching Economics has been conducting Economics for Leaders programmes in Hungary for the past 13 years with support from Citigroup, the Citigroup Foundation, and now P&G, Gillette Business Unit. Evaluation shows that both students and teachers leave with a better understanding of the economic forces that play such an important part in every day life. Most importantly, participants leave knowing the importance of distinguishing between value-based judgments and empirically verifiable ones.

"Citigroup has been supporting this program for 13 years in Hungary and the success of the program proved that there is a great demand for economics-financial education as early as in the secondary schools" - said Mr. Sajjad Razvi, Citigroup's Country Officer for Hungary.  "In 2004 Citigroup and the Citigroup Foundation announced a 10-year $200 million global commitment to financial education. Based on the excellent fit of this programme with our strategy and its success in the previous years, the Citigroup Foundation decided to continue supporting it in Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia. The summer camp is an excellent opportunity for participants to acquire knowledge and learn to enjoy economics. By exploring the correlation between economics and leadership through rigorous and challenging activities, students are getting the skills that Hungary's future leaders need", he concluded. 

Éva Hencz, Public Affairs Officer for Citigroup in Hungary, will lead an interactive classroom exercise that simulates the operations of an imaginary consumer bank - including products and services offerings and distribution and servicing channels - together with participating students and teachers.

"P&G, Gillette Business Unit considers economics education an important area, since for every country it is the quality of education which influences the future of a country to a great extent. It is our pleasure to see that this FTE program has brought a new dimension to the philanthropy and community involvement of our company in this field." - said Cathy Chizauskas, Vice President of P&G, Gillette Business Unit.

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For further information regarding the Economics for Leaders program, please contact Jávorszky Iván at +36-30-9489-610 in Hungary or James Klauder at (530) 757-4633 at the Foundation for Teaching Economics.

Note to the editors

The program has two components for students:

1. Economics classes, which present the principles of free enterprise. Teaching simulations are used extensively, and students learn to think critically about current social problems.
   
2. Leadership sessions, which challenge students with group problems that teach conflict resolution, communication skills, and different leadership approaches.

Teacher training is also an important goal: 

1. Teachers observe the economics classes and learn, first hand, the benefit of teaching through interactive, experiential techniques. 
   
2. Workshops provide teachers with an opportunity to further explore the economics simulations and to share other ideas and materials for teaching economics.

Ken Leonard, Director of Program Development at the FTE, will be lecturing at the Hungarian program. Dr. Leonard has written extensively on the role of values in the formation of economic policy and has worked with the FTE since 1991 in the United States and Central Europe. 

In order to assess the impact of the Csillebérc Economics for Leaders program, pre- and post-tests are administered to all students. Additionally, in-depth evaluations are completed by each participant, and 6 months after returning to their schools, the teachers are asked to report on the impact of the program on their teaching.

About Citigroup, the Citigroup Foundation and the Citigroup Financial Education Program
Citigroup (NYSE: C), 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, insurance, securities brokerage, and asset management.  Major brand names under Citigroup's trademark red umbrella include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney and Banamex.
The Citigroup Foundation focuses its grants primarily on financial education and community development, along with arts and culture, health and human services, and the environment. Additional information may be found at: www.citigroup.com
Based on the belief that knowledge is your greatest asset, the Citigroup Financial Education Program is a global, company-wide effort to identify, support and implement initiatives that help give individuals, families and communities the tools needed to make sound financial decisions. Citigroup's 10-year, $200 million global commitment is focused in three areas: Personal Financial Education, Small Business Financial Education, and Institutional Financial Education. Additional information about Citigroup's Financial Education Program, including Foundation guidelines, links and resources, including the Citigroup Financial Education Program Curriculum and Facilitator's Guide may be found at: www.financialeducation.citigroup.com

About P&G, Gillette Business Unit
The Gillette brand is the global market leader in nearly a dozen major consumer products categories, principally in the grooming, alkaline battery and oral care businesses. 
In the more than 100 years since the Company was founded, Gillette has gained, held and strengthened leadership positions through the Company's strategy of managing its business with a long-term, global perspective. 
This demonstrated ability to generate long-term, profitable growth in a changing global marketplace rests on several fundamental strengths. These include a constantly increasing accumulation of scientific knowledge in core businesses, innovative products that embody meaningful technological advances and an immense manufacturing capability that produces billions of flawless products every year - reliably, efficiently and cost-effectively.  In 2005, The Gillette Company was acquired by The Procter and Gamble Company.

About the Foundation for Teaching Economics
The mission of the FTE is to introduce young individuals, selected for their leadership potential, to an economic way of thinking about national and international issues and to promote excellence in economic education by helping economics teachers become more effective educators.
The FTE is dedicated to emphasizing the important role of individuals as productive, responsible citizens in free societies. Our teacher and student training programs provide a small classroom setting where serious discussion can take place to better understand the free market system. Additional information about the FTE may be found at www.fte.org

About Junior Achievement Hungary
Junior Achievement Hungary (JAM) is a licensed franchise of Junior Achievement Worldwide. The foundation has been running its programs in Hungary since 1992. Eleven separate programs targeted from kindergartens to high schools are currently being offered to 28,000 students in 88 cities and villages across Hungary. The mission of JAM is to provide students with the opportunity to learn about the business environment and free market economy through a dynamic partnership between businesses and schools. By attending these programs, students acquire knowledge and essential skills that will help them become educated consumers, more productive employees and more responsible members of the business community. For further information please visit our website at www.ejam.hu