In 2007 the Dutch Business Club Korea (DBCK), in co-operation with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency, the European Union Chamber of Commerce (EUCCK), Invest Korea and the Korean Ministry for Industry and Commerce will award two Dutch companies and one Korean company with its annual “Hamel Trade Award”.

The awards are meant to recognize extraordinary achievement of Dutch companies or institutions in the field of export, investment or technology transfer with regard to the South Korean market and for an extraordinary achievement of Korean companies in the field of investment in the Netherlands. The objective in presenting this award is to promote greater awareness among Dutch companies of opportunities for exports of goods and technology to South Korea, as well as for investment in South Korea and vice versa for investment in the Netherlands by Korean companies.

This year the DBCK will present three awards to recognize companies in two distinctly different categories:

• Dutch companies that are already well-established in the South Korean market

• Dutch companies that have only recently entered the South Korean market

• Korean companies who invested in the Netherlands Previous laureates The Hamel Trade Award was launched in 2003.

It is an award for excellence to a company that has contributed substantially to business and trade relations between South Korea and The Netherlands. The first Hamel Trade Award was presented to ASML (the world’s leading provider of lithography systems for the semiconductor industry) by the Netherlands Minister for Trade and Mr. Guus Hiddink during their joint visit to Korea in 2003. In 2004 the Hamel Trade Award has been granted to LG.Philips-LCD, because it has been one of the most successful joint ventures in South Korea and has contributed significantly to the bilateral trade relations between the Netherlands and South Korea. In 2005 the DBCK decided that two awards should be granted: an award for a company that was already well established in the South Korean market went to Inalfa Roof Systems (the world's second biggest provider of vehicle roof systems) and an award for a company that had only recently entered the South Korean market went to Irdeto (which specialises in designing, developing, and marketing end-to-end solutions to manage and protect content from unauthorised access in the television broadcast, mobile and broadband environments). In 2006 ING Life and OTB Solar were awarded. The Hamel Award was conferred on ING Life Insurance Korea in recognition of its achievements in penetrating the market in South Korea. The award is also given to ING Life because the company has pursued a succesful self-sustaining growth since its establishment in Korea in 1989. OTB Solar is a leading Dutch manufacturer of solar cell equipment. In 2006 OTB announced the successful installation of a 30 MW production line to the South-Korean solar cell manufacturing company KPE. The total annual capacity of this new production line equals the yearly power consumption of 10,000 European households. This was worth another Hamel Award.

Candidates for 2007 Candidates for the three Hamel Trade Awards 2007 can be nominated by anyone by sending an email to seo-ea@minbuza.nl. Please include your contact information, for which award you want to nominate the company, and a short explanation as to why the company is nominated for the Hamel Trade Award.

The deadline for nominations is October 15, 2007. The winners will be announced and presented at an Award Ceremony in Seoul on 22 November 2007.

The following criteria will be applied in the selection process:

• Presence in South Korea (for Dutch companies) is not a prerequisite

• Business strategy with a clear role for the South Korean or Dutch/European market

• Understanding for the demands of the South Korean market

• Creativity in solving uniquely Korean or Dutch problems

• Demonstrated success in the field of export or technology transfer to South Korea and the Netherlands, or investment (through a branch, subsidiary or joint venture in South Korea).

The Dutch Business Club Korea ( www.dbckorea.com)

Email: seo-ea@minbuza.nl