Syngenta holds Annual General Meeting( BASEL Switzerland April 21 /- At the ...)

BASEL, Switzerland, April 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- At the Annual General Meeting of Syngenta AG on 21 April 2009, the shareholders approved all the motions proposed by the Board of Directors.

Shareholders approved a dividend of CHF 6.00 per share for the business year 2008, an increase of 25% over the previous year. Shareholders also approved a reduction of the share capital to CHF 9,459,984.90 through the cancellation of 2,315,008 shares, which the Company repurchased in 2008 within the scope of the approved repurchase program.

Rupert Gasser and Peter Doyle stepped down from the Board, having reached the statutory maximum age of 70. Syngenta Chairman Martin Taylor said: "On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank both for their outstanding contribution to the Company. Their considerable experience and sound guidance have been instrumental in our collective success."

Stefan Borgas, CEO of Lonza, and David Lawrence, former Head of R&D at Syngenta, were elected as new members of the Board of Directors.

Peggy Bruzelius, Pierre Landolt and Jurg Witmer were re-elected to the Board. Following a recent decision of the Board of Directors, Jurg Witmer takes the role of Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors with immediate effect.

Syngenta is one of the world's leading companies with more than 24,000 employees in over 90 countries dedicated to our purpose: Bringing plant potential to life. Through world-class science, global reach and commitment to our customers we help to increase crop productivity, protect the environment and improve health and quality of life. For more information about us please go to www.syngenta.com.

Note to the editor:

The speech of the Chairman, the presentation of the CEO and images of the Annual General Meeting and the newly elected Board members can
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