Lausanne, Oct 24: South Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung has renewed its sponsorship deal with the International Olympic Committee. The IOC said yesterday the sponsorship would continue through the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, and the Summer Games of 2008 in Beijing, China. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Samsung has been a global sponsor since 1997. The company is the seventh to renew its global sponsorship agreement with the IOC. The others are Coca-Cola, Kodak, John Hancock, Schlumberger, Swatch and Panasonic.
Such global sponsors donate at least US$50 million in cash, services or products over four years. "The partnership between the Olympic movement and Samsung is essential to the complex mission of staging the Olympic Games, as Samsung provides leading wireless communications equipment that is essential to Olympic operations," said Gerhard Heiberg, Chairman of the IOC Marketing Commission.



Bureau Report