Novartis, Basel based major pharma multinational, is recommending the approval of a 17 per cent increase in the dividend payment to Swiss Franc (CHF) 1.35 per share for 2006 and the election of Marjorie Yang, one of the leading women in international business, as a new member to the Board of Directors. Shareholders will vote on these and other proposals at the next Annual General Meeting, which is scheduled for March 6.

Marjorie Yang, who is chairman and CEO of the Hong Kong-based Esquel Group, is being proposed for election to the Board for a term beginning on January 1, 2008, and ending on the day of the annual general meeting in 2010.

Yang has been named in recent years to Fortune magazine's annual international list of the 50 most powerful women in business thanks to her success in transforming Esquel into one of the world's leading textile manufacturing companies. She earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and an MBA from Harvard University.

The proposed dividend payment marks the tenth consecutive higher payout per share since the creation of Novartis in December 1996. The payment date for the 2006 dividend has been set for March 9, 2007.