November 21, 2003 -- Heidelberg customers were big winners at the first Asian Print Awards held in Singapore. Well over 50% of the winning entries from across the Asia region, namely - Singapore, Malaysia, India, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Mauritius, China and Philippines - were produced on Heidelberg machines. To add to the joyous occasion, the "Best of the Best for Offset Color Gold Heidelberg Award" was proudly brought home by A.P. Korea, whose entry is the limited edition "Korean Traditional Costume" book, printed on the Heidelberg Speedmaster CD102-4 color press. The "Korean Traditional Costume" is an exquisitely crafted book made especially for the Korean traditional costume designers. Hawol, client of the book, are fabric makers of Korean traditional costumes. Needless to say, it is extremely important to them that the book embodies the essence of Korean cultural values through showcasing the intricate details and designs on fabrics use to produce these costumes. Mr. Lee Young-Ho, Managing Director of A.P. Korea said , "We are very glad to be honored with the Best of the Best for Offset Color Gold Heidelberg Award. This award is an encouragement to us and we will continue to strive harder in our work to produce top-notch print quality product." Chairman of the judging panel, Mr. Alf Carrigan, who is also chairman of Australian National Printing Laboratories, was pleased to be invited to chair the judging panel. "The standard achieved is world class and in the opinion of the judging panel, these entries could compete successfully in any international print competition. We were impressed by the significant use of technologies combined with traditional methods to produce top quality finished product." Mr. Carrigan commented. Until now, there was no official recognition of excellence in print in the Asia region. The Asian Print Awards is an initiative by Callahan Publishing Pte Ltd and is proudly supported by Print & Media Association of Singapore and sponsored amongst others by Heidelberg, foremost among the leading suppliers to the industry. More than 900 entries were submitted to vie for recognition from the Asian Print Awards. The Judging Panel and Mr. Günter Zorn, President of Heidelberg Asia were delighted at the good response received. "The strong participation from printers all over Asia bodes well for the future and I am confident that the Asian Print Awards will continue to meet its objective of stimulating excellence in Print for many years to come." states Mr. Zorn. "The fact that more than half of the award winners used Heidelberg presses to print their winning entries is testimony of our relentless pursuit of excellence being put to good use by our customers".