5.16.2008 - 11:09am ET

(CSRwire) HARTFORD, CT., May 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) today pledged $100,000 to the International Federation of Red Cross Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) for their relief efforts to victims in earthquake-hit areas in southwest China. The DREF is a vital part of the International Federation's disaster response system and increases the ability of national societies to respond to disasters.

The company also is establishing a global matching gift program to help UTC's 225,000 employees worldwide contribute to the relief efforts. UTC has 295 offices and 14 factories in more than 72 cities in China and Hong Kong.

"We are all saddened by the tragedy of Monday's devastating earthquake in China and our thoughts are with all who have been affected," said UTC President and Chief Executive Officer Louis R. Chenevert. "United Technologies Corporation has been operating in China for a century, and today we employ more than 14,000 people there. We are deeply grateful and relieved to learn our many employees were unharmed, and we are now focused on providing support and relief to the thousands who are suffering. We thank UTC employees around the world who help ease this suffering."

United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and building industries. UTC's products include Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines, Sikorsky helicopters, Carrier heating and air conditioning, Hamilton Sundstrand aerospace systems and industrial products, Otis elevators and escalators, UTC Fire & Security systems and UTC Power fuel cells.

In 2007, UTC was named, for the 4th consecutive year, one of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It has been listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes every year since the indexes began in 1999.

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