Hong Kong, December 8, 2005 — The full list of Asia Pacific's 500 fastest-growing technology companies was announced today during the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu ("Deloitte") Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific 2005 Ceremony at the Grand Hyatt, Hong Kong. During the event, Deloitte also released the Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific 2005 CEO Survey, a comprehensive analysis of business trends amongst the winning companies and a summary of the key concerns and expectations of sector CEOs.

The Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific program covers public and private companies across the region, and is based on three-year average percentage revenue growth.  The awards are researched and sponsored by the Deloitte Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) Industry Group. Key trends observed in this year's Asia Pacific ranking were:

• The three year average revenue growth for the Top 500 ranked companies has increased from 400 to 518 percent since 2004 and the Top 5 winning companies achieved average revenue growth over three years of a remarkable 14,210 percent.
• The semiconductor, components and electronics and software sectors, while leading in representation in the ranking, have declined by four percent and 12 percent respectively.
• Communications/networking and Internet sectors have increased by three and four percent respectively over 2004.
• Korea and Taiwan have the highest number of companies achieving the 2005 ranking, with representation from Taiwan has grown notably from 11 percent in 2004 to 20 per cent in 2005.
• The greatest number of communications/networking companies are from Korea, followed by China. Japan contributes the largest number of Internet (followed by Australia and China) and biotech/pharmaceutical companies by far.
• The largest number of semiconductor, components and electronics companies in this year's ranking are from Taiwan.
• India provides the largest number of software companies in the ranking this year.

"Our ranking and survey tells us a lot about these remarkable businesses and we feel it is important to share this information with the wider business community," said Igal Brightman, Global Managing Partner of Deloitte Technology, Media & Telecommunications.

"According to our CEO survey, it is clear that CEO confidence in the outlook for the technology sector across Asia Pacific has reached an all time high. The overwhelming message we are getting this year is that a sound business strategy and strong leadership remain key success factors in the growth of technology companies, but clearly there is an increased shift in the necessity for high quality employees and this remains a priority operational challenge in the region.

"The rapid growth of technology companies in this region is demonstrated by the fact there are winners from eight different locations among the Top 20 this year — Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. There has been a strong emergence from China with three companies in the Top 10, and from Taiwan, where representation has grown considerably from 11 percent in 2004 to 20 percent this year," said Ian Thatcher, Deloitte Partner in Charge, Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific Program and Lead Partner TMT, Australia. "Of note this year in the CEO survey is that copyright protection is high on the agenda of today's CEOs, with almost 60 percent of those surveyed addressing the problem up front, by building protection into their product range."

The Technology Fast 500 CEO Survey in Asia Pacific is compiled and published alongside the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific ranking. Highlights of this year's Survey include:

• 90 percent of Asia Pacific CEOs surveyed are either extremely or very confident that their company will sustain its growth over the next year;
• CEOs are focusing much more on people than in previous years;
• CEOs completely rely on and trust in the Internet and IP;
• The rise of wireless sector is unique to Asia Pacific;
• The rise of "Chindia" (China and India) was again identified as the biggest threat (22  percent) to growth in the technology sector over the next 12 months;
• The two leading industry sectors highlighted as offering greatest growth potential in the next 12 months are Wireless and Internet/IP (26 percent and 20 percent, respectively);
• Implementation of more extreme measures to hold copycats at bay is also growing, through the hiring of third-party specialist to advise on intellectual property protection (33 percent) and restricting distribution of product to markets that have a strong reputation of protection of intellectual property (16 percent)

Three new Technology Fast 50 programs in the region
Established in Asia Pacific for four years, the Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific regional awards have increased in their scope with the addition of three new prestigious award programs at the local level, as part of the Deloitte Technology Fast 50.

Inaugural Technology Fast 50 programs were launched in China, Taiwan and India, as the level of interest in the program and the number of fast-growth companies in the technology, media and telecommunications sector are both extremely high. As a result, it was not a surprise when several companies from these three locations found themselves among the Top 5 winners in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific rankings. Indeed, the results are encouraging and demonstrate that these three areas are centres of innovation.

Other highlights from the 2005 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific rankings:

Top 5 ranked companies

Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific winners, by sector

About the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific
The Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific program is the region's most objective industry-ranking standard to focus on the technology field. It was created in 2001 to recognize the effort and dedication of the 500 fastest-growing technology companies in Asia Pacific and includes all areas of technology, from Internet to biotechnology, from medical and scientific to computers/hardware. It includes both public and private companies. The awards, which have been running in Asia Pacific for four years, are based on three-year average percentage revenue growth. Details of the winning companies will be available at http://www.deloitte.com/fast500asiapac.

About the Deloitte Technology, Media & Telecommunications Industry Group
The Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (DTT) Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) Industry Group consists of the TMT practices organized in the various member firms of DTT and includes more than 5,000 member firm partners, directors and senior managers supported by thousands of other professionals dedicated to helping their clients evaluate complex issues, develop fresh approaches to problems and implement practical solutions. There are dedicated TMT member firm practices in 45 countries and centers of excellence in the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific. Deloitte member firms serve nearly 85 percent of the TMT companies in the global Fortune 500. Clients of Deloitte member firms' TMT practices include some of the world's top software companies, computer manufacturers, wireless operators, satellite broadcasters, advertising agencies and semiconductor foundries — as well as leaders in publishing, telecommunications and peripheral equipment manufacturing.

About Deloitte
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, a Swiss Verein, its member firms, and their respective subsidiaries and affiliates. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is an organization of member firms around the world devoted to excellence in providing professional services and advice, focused on client service through a global strategy executed locally in nearly 150 countries. With access to the deep intellectual capital of 120,000 people worldwide, Deloitte delivers services in four professional areas — audit, tax, consulting and financial advisory services — and serves more than one-half of the world's largest companies, as well as large national enterprises, public institutions, locally important clients and successful, fast-growing global growth companies. Services are not provided by the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Verein, and, for regulatory and other reasons, certain member firms do not provide services in all four professional areas.

As a Swiss Verein (association), neither Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu nor any of its member firms has any liability for each other’s acts or omissions. Each of the member firms is a separate and independent legal entity operating under the names "Deloitte," "Deloitte & Touche," "Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu" or other related names.