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Korea Exim News

KEXIM Announces 34 Newly Selected Candidates for the Korean Hidden Champions Program

Date 2010.04.08 View 30171
□ KEXIM Announces 34 Newly Selected Candidates for the Korean Hidden Champions Program

- From among the many SMEs which applied for the Korean Hidden Champion program since January, KEXIM selected 34 candidates including Crucial Tec and ODTech on March 28 based on the companies’ technological advancements, growth potential, CEO capability, and financial stability. The evaluation process included document reviews and on-site evaluations.

- In addition to the companies already selected, KEXIM plans to select 66 more companies for a total of 100 candidates for the program this year and has earmarked KRW 1 trillion in support for the candidates.


□ The new candidates were selected based on their strengths in terms of focus and globalization―two essential traits referred to as the “Hidden Champion DNA” by author Hermann Simon of the book Hidden Champion.

A Korean Hidden Champion:

- sells its key products in niche markets of 25 countries on average.

- invests at least 3.65% of revenue in R&D, much higher than the overall average of 2.06%, and holds 38 patents on average.

- exports on average KRW 69.2 billion or 61% of total sales.

- The selected candidates represent the machinery metal sector (18 firms), electronics & appliances (11 firms), the chemical sector (3 firms), and other sectors (2 firms). Among these companies, 7 firms are involved in new growth Industries such as green technology.

※Hidden Champions-Title of the book written by German Economist Hermann Simon. Simon defined Hidden Champions as "companies with sales of less than USD 4 billion and ranked 1 to 3 place in their respective sectors but relatively unknown by the public.”

□ Firms selected as Hidden Champions are provided with competitiveness financial terms in order to help the companies secure global competitiveness in all stages of business activities from product development, production, and overseas sales. In addition, the companies can receive expert consulting services from the initial stages of establishing long-term strategies.

□ KEXIM President & CEO Dongsoo Kim stated, "We will strive to nurture leading global export companies over the next decade through this program. By creating quality jobs and contributing to the national economy through exports, Hidden Champions will serve as the key drivers of the Korean economy.”

□ With plans to nurture 300 Hidden Champions with global market competitiveness and exports totaling USD 100 million each by 2019, KEXIM committed KRW 20 trillion in the Korean Hidden Champion program launched last year with an initial 12 candidates selected for the program.