The joint venture will be called SafeDX and both outfits will holding a 50 per cent stake. The deal which was announced in the Chinese press is a way of getting a foot in the door of Europe without having to worry about data leaving the EU. This concern is one of the major concerns for EU regulators.
Foxconn has a long history of working in the Czech republic and set up its first factory in 2000. It plans to write a $101 million cheque (shurely Czech.ed) ) to set up R&D, design and datacenters in the country by 2018.
Martin Chládek, KKCG's Head of Information Technologies said:
"We are convinced that the current development in the IT sector provides new business opportunities, particularly in relation to our partners in Asia. The investment into the construction of our data center advances the portfolio of the group's IT services one level higher. Global IT corporations as well as companies from Asia are planning to expand to Central and Eastern Europe. They will need to reinforce their IT infrastructure to support their growing business needs in the region. Services offered by SafeDX will include data center, comprehensive IT solutions, and a host of other IT services."
Alan Macintyre, CEO of Foxconn Technology CZ added that "Foxconn's new investment strategy focuses not only on building data centers, but also, and more importantly, on providing related services. The first data center in Prague is a pilot project, which we want to follow by an expansion throughout Europe. The services we offer are not intended for large corporations only, they're for medium- and small-sized enterprises too."