DHL wins European Investment Award for Prague IT Services Center

DHL, the world’s leading express and logistics company, has been presented with the European Investment Award at the La Baule World Investment Conference, for the establishment of its global IT Services Center in Prague, Czech Republic. The 2005 awards honour the three best foreign investments in Europe. The La Baule Conference is under the patronage of the European Commission.

“We are delighted to be recognized for our investment in the Czech Republic,” said Peter Kruse, CEO of DHL Express Europe, who accepted the award in France. The 500 million euro state-of-the art Information Technology Center is the largest investment in the service sector in the Czech Republic. “This first-class facility will further strengthen the global IT performance of DHL and, together with the Centers in Scottsdale, U.S. and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, provides solid and reliable operations around the clock. DHL is providing a source of quality and stable employment, as well as becoming an important source of secondary investment,” said Kruse.

The facility in Prague was opened for operation in June 2004. Between January 2004 and March 2005, more than 900 highly skilled IT professionals were recruited, the majority of whom are Czech nationals. At the same time, more than 600 computer servers were installed and configured to enable the migration of the processing of business transactions from the IT Centers in the U.K. and Switzerland. While DHL and Deutsche Post World Net have been operating in the Czech Republic for 17 years, the IT Services center is the company’s biggest single investment to date in the country.

Stephen McGuckin, Managing Director of IT Services, said ” The set of criteria we used for finding a location in Europe – availability of a skilled and flexible labour force; well established and reliable telecommunications networks; good air links; support from the government; and the opportunity to reduce costs – has been fully realized. We made the right decision when choosing Prague for the location of the IT Services Center.”

Deutsche Post World Net is the world’s leading logistics group.

Its integrated Deutsche Post, DHL and Postbank companies offer tailored, customer focused solutions for the management and transport of goods, information and payments through a global network combined with local expertise. Deutsche Post World Net is also the leading provider of Dialog Marketing services, with a unique portfolio of efficient outsourcing and system solutions for the mail business. Some 380,000 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide generated revenue of *43 bn (USD58 billion) in 2004.