Tekla Corporation Press Release February 2, 2010
Tekla receives the 2009 Internationalization Award
The President of the Republic of Finland, Tarja Halonen, has presented the 2009 Internationalization Award to Tekla Corporation. The objective of the award is to encourage businesses in an international environment and to boost their ability to develop and apply new operational models. Finpro, the organization that promotes the growth and competitiveness of Finnish companies, selected the nominees for the award. The grounds of the Internationalization Award emphasize international growth, ability to network and development of new kinds of products and services. These awards have been presented annually since 1967.
- We are very happy to receive the Internationalization Award as a recognition of our work. Our success in the international software product market is based on Finnish expertise, industry know-how and close cooperation with the customers, as well as our long-term perspective, comments Ari Kohonen, Tekla's President and CEO.
- Even though Tekla's product portfolio has varied over the years, construction-related software has been there all along. Nowadays, our most international product is the Tekla Structures software for the construction industry, with customers in nearly 100 countries. In addition, we have a long tradition as a supplier of software for the energy industry and municipal sector. The most international of these, the network information system Tekla Xpower for energy companies, is in use in several North European countries, Kohonen says.
Tekla was founded in 1966. The company's first export deals were made in 1972. The first foreign subsidiary was established in Sweden in 1995, with foreign trade accounting for 15% of net sales at the time. International operations were expanded strongly around the turn of the millennium, with subsidiaries or local offices established in the US, the UK, Germany, France, Malaysia, Japan, the UAE and China among others. In 1999, the share of foreign operations of net sales increased above 50%.
Today, more than 80% of Tekla's annual net sales of some EUR 50 million is generated outside Finland. The company has its own offices in 14 countries and additionally a comprehensive global partner network. Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, has significantly promoted the development of Tekla's business. Tekla also collaborates with many universities and research institutes. The company employs over 460 persons, of whom 40 percent work outside Finland.
For additional information, please contact:
Ari Kohonen, President and CEO, + 358 50 64 124
Risto Räty, Executive Vice President, +358 40 544 4470
Elina Hollo, Communications Manager, +358 40 570 4030
firstname.lastname@tekla.com
Distribution: Media, www.tekla.com