World Bank names Germany world logistics champion

Press release from 29.01.2010

World Bank names Germany world logistics champion

• North Rhine-Westphalia has been Germany's leading logistics location for years

Information from the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia:

Düsseldorf, 29 January 2010 – A recent study by the World Bank named Germany the most efficient logistics location on the globe. In the worldwide survey "Connection to Compete 2010", freight companies and express carriers voted Germany first out of a total of 155 countries. Germany scored highly with its unique infrastructure, leaving Singapore and Sweden behind it in second and third place respectively.

"This is excellent news for North Rhine-Westphalia", said Economics Minister Christa Thoben. "In international competition for foreign investors, logistics is one of the most important location factors." With 21,600 companies and 270,000 employees, the state has been Germany's leading logistics location for years.

Almost all of the major players in the industry – from Deutsche Post DHL,  FedEx, Fiege, Kühne & Nagel, NYK Logistics and Rhenus to Schenker, UPS and Wincanton – are based in the Rhine and Ruhr regions. "Ultimately, the study names North Rhine-Westphalia as the best logistics region in the world", emphasized Petra Wassner, CEO of NRW.INVEST. The Netherlands, one of the strongest European contestants, dropped from second to fourth place. "This accolade from the World Bank provides us with convincing arguments for the further location of foreign companies in the state", said Wassner. Between 2004 and 2008, NRW.INVEST was instrumental in locating nearly 350 foreign investors in North Rhine-Westphalia, creating around 5,800 new jobs. For most of the companies concerned, the state's outstanding logistical environment was a key decision-making criterion.

"More impressive evidence of the outstanding quality of the location and the industry is provided by the fact that, just a few days ago, a North Rhine-Westphalian network won Germany's top cluster competition. When it comes to logistics we are extremely well set up – in terms of both business and science – and this is also recognized on an international level by the World Bank", added Minister Thoben.

For further information and press queries:
NRW.INVEST GmbH
Annette Peis, Press and PR
Tel.: +49 (0) 211-130 00 162, Fax: +49 (0) 211-130 00 154
e-mail: Peis@nrwinvest.com