Owens Illinois Establishes European Headquarters in Switzerland

Owens Illinois, the global packaging company that changed its name to O-I early in April, has opened its European headquarters in Switzerland, reports Mario Brossi of Location: Switzerland, the country´s inward investment promotion agency. Based near Lausanne in the canton of Vaud O-I expects to hire up to 200 people in the near future to manage its 11-country European sales, marketing, financial, manufacturing, IT, and human resources operations plus a shared services center, Mr. Brossi said. Steve McCracken, CEO of O-I, said, "The choice of Switzerland and the Lausanne area was based on an analysis of several criteria important to our competitiveness in the European marketplace. Above all, Switzerland is one of the most business-friendly countries on the continent, and has a legal structure that strongly supports multinational business operations such as ours. This is supplemented by a highly productive, well educated, multilingual workforce that facilitates doing business across our European markets. An added benefit is a great lifestyle." Mr. McCracken noted that "The Swiss educational program is among the best in the world with well-known international high schools preparing children to international careers. The Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne ranks among the best of the world in higher education. Moreover," he said, "Switzerland´s location and outstanding transportation infrastructure puts us square in the middle of, and with easy access to, our Central and Eastern European operations." Gil Restrepo, President of O-I Europe, said, "Our new facilities, formerly occupied by a logistics company, were identified, rented and renovated in less than six months with the help of local and federal government authorities. This is another strong indication that Switzerland works when it comes to supporting new business ventures." About O-I O-I glass containers, healthcare packaging and specialty closure systems deliver many of the world´s best-known consumer products to people all around the world. World-wide, O-I provides products that enable superior taste, purity, visual appeal and value benefits for its customers´ products. Established in 1903, the company employs nearly 30,000 people and has more than 100 manufacturing facilities in 23 countries. In 2004, annual revenues were $6.2 billion. For more information, visithttp://www.o-i.com