The finalists are Alta Ventures in Mexico, Cisco (CSCO) in Israel, Coca-Cola (COKE) in Swaziland, Denimatrix in Guatemala, Fiji Water in Fiji, GE (GE) in India, Intel (INTC) in Costa Rica, Mars, Inc. in Ghana, PepsiCo (PEP) in India, Qualcomm (QCOM) in China, Synopsys (SNPS) in Armenia and Tang Energy in China.

Robert D Hormats, Under-Secretary for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs, announced the 2010 finalists for the award, also known as the ACE.

These U.S. companies were chosen by the Inter-agency Principals' Award Selection Committee from a record number of 78 nominations submitted by American ambassadors around the world.

The U.S. Department of State instituted the award in 1999 to recognize the vital role that U.S. businesses play abroad as good corporate citizens and for their innovation.

The 2010 ACE winners will be announced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at an annual ceremony to be held at the State Department later this fall, a Department spokesman said.

Fiji Water got the approval for the bottled water company's disaster relief efforts; volunteerism; partnerships that focus on local health, education, and provision of water; and "carbon negative" approach to product lifecycle and conservation efforts in Fiji.

Source: rttnews.com