use XML::Simple qw(:strict);
$config = XMLin('config.xml', KeyAttr => {item=>'filename'}, ForceArray => ['item']);

##</code><code>##

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<config>
	<item>
		<id>0</id>
		<filename>AMEX</filename>
		<destination_dir>test</destination_dir>
	</item>
	<item>
		<id>1</id>
		<filename>bla</filename>
		<destination_dir>test1</destination_dir>
	</item>
	<item>
		<id>2</id>
		<filename>alb</filename>
		<destination_dir>test2</destination_dir>
	</item>	
</config>

##</code><code>##

 
for (my $i = 0; $i < $theNumberOfItems; $i++)
{
    print $config->{item}[$i]->{destination_dir};
}

##</code><code>##

 
for (my $i = 0; $i < $theNumberOfItems; $i++)
{
    print $config->{item}{$i}->{destination_dir};
}