Samsung, an official TOP Partner of the Olympic Games in wireless telecommunications equipment, concluded a sponsorship contract with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on April 23, 2007 at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China. Samsung first became a full sponsor of the Olympic Games during the Nagano Olympic Winter Games in 1998. According to the new contract, Samsung will officially sponsor the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement for the next eight years, through the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games in 2010, the London Olympic Games in 2012, the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, and the 2016 Olympic Games.

Samsung, an official TOP Partner of the Olympic Games in wireless telecommunications equipment, concluded a sponsorship contract with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) (credit : Samsung)

The Samsung-IOC Olympic Games sponsorship contract signing ceremony was attended by Samsung Chairman, Kun-Hee Lee, who arrived in Beijing after a three-week business trip to Europe, and more than 200 officials in sports from around the world, including International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, Chief Executive Officer of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) John Furlong, and London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) Chairman Sebastian Coe.

Accordingly, Samsung concluded a TOP (The Olympic Partner) sponsorship contract with the IOC in 1997. Since then, the company has been an official sponsor in the wireless telecommunications equipment category, including the Nagano 1998 Olympic Winter Games, the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games, the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games, and the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. By sponsoring the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement for the last ten years, Samsung has made great strides towards becoming a 'cutting-edge global brand' that leads the mobile phone industry. The Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 are expected to be the climax of the company's efforts for the last ten years.

By sponsoring the Olympic Games for the next eight years, including the TOP VII (Vancouver 2010-London 2012) and TOP VIII (host countries not yet determined), in addition to the TOP IV (Nagano 1998-Sydney 2000), TOP V (Salt Lake City 2002-Athens 2004) and TOP VI (Torino 2006 -Beijing 2008), Samsung will create a strong association between the Olympic Movement and Samsung, and will further enhance the status of the Samsung brand. By concluding a long-term Olympic sponsorship contract, Samsung is proving that investing in the Olympic Games is key to growth of a 'brand' and 'mobile phones', and is showing the world that investing in the Olympic Games means unlimited growth potential.@