Export numeric data in text format from VB.net to Excel

[vbvr]

I need to export a numeric field (TAX ID) from vb.net to Excel. The value gets converted to Numeric in Excel and leading zeroes are lost. I tried to use code posted on this site. But the style defined here does not get applied in Excel. Following is the sample code.

Any suggestions on how to keep the text "02345" in the same format in Excel?

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Dim Excel As New Excel.Application
Dim wb As Excel.Workbook
Dim ws As Excel.Worksheet
Dim style As Excel.Style

wb = Excel.Workbooks.Add()
style = wb.Styles.Add("Style1")
style.Font.Name = "Arial"
style.Font.Bold = True
style.Font.Size = 12
style.NumberFormat = "@"

ws = wb.Sheets(1)

ws.Cells(1, 1).value = "02345"

Excel.ActiveWorkbook().SaveAs("c:\test.xls")
Excel.ActiveWorkbook.Close()
Excel.Quit()
Excel = Nothing
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