□ On Oct. 24, Korea Eximbank (www.koreaexim.go.kr, Chairman & President Yong Hwan Kim) announced that the Bank has selected 35 companies as the second round of candidates for its Hidden Champion program.

？ The companies, each averaging KRW 100 billion in exports and 21 patents, were chosen based on their technological strengths and capacity to enter new overseas markets.

？ Significantly, 20 of the selected companies (57%) are unlisted, demonstrating that this group is in line with the goals of the program to nurture unknown companies with high potential into Hidden Champions.

□ Korea Eximbank introduced the Hidden Champion** program in Nov. 2009 to foster leading companies in the global market. Since then, the Bank has provided KRW 3.2 trillion in financing to 186 selected candidates. Two years after introduction, the program is now in full force.

** Mid-sized global companies with over USD 300 million in exports and potential to dominate the international market.

？ Last July, Korea Eximbank assessed the profitability and growth of the 111 Hidden Champions which were selected prior to Dec. 2010 and found that the Hidden Champion candidates performed far better than other listed companies.

？ The year on year increase in total revenue of Hidden Champion candidates averaged 19.1% while those of companies listed on KOSDAQ averaged 17.3% and KOSPI averaged 17%. The candidate companies also posted a year on year increase of 19% in total export volumes.

*** Total revenue of assessed Hidden Champion companies: KRW 13.95 trillion in 2009 → KRW 16.62 trillion in 2010
**** Total exports of assessed Hidden Champion companies: KRW 8.77 trillion in 2009 → KRW 10.43 trillion in 2010

？ Also, the assessed companies recorded operating profit to sales ratio of 7.9%, higher than that of KOSPI and KOSDAQ companies at 7.0% and 6.2%, respectively .

□ In addition to increased business performance, the Hidden Champion program contributed to the creation of quality jobs as the total number of employees***** at the assessed companies increased by 13%.

***** Total number of employees at assessed Hidden Champion companies: 30,346 in 2009 → 34,405 in 2010

□ Chairman Yong Hwan Kim stated, “The Hidden Champion program will soon be recognized as the representative model for nurturing our SMEs into global leaders. Next year as well, Korea Eximbank will continue to actively support exporting SMEs with great potential for growth and high levels of technological advancement so that they may serve as a solid link in Korea’s corporate ecosystem.”