Austria

 

 

Austria

 

Positioned in the southern part of Central Europe, Austria extends from the eastern Alps – which account for nearly two-thirds of its area – to the Danube Basin. Its central location makes Austria a natural crossing point for transportation routes linking Europe’s leading cultural and business centers.

Austria’s official language is German, but foreign language capability is heavily promoted.

 

A comparative international study (TIMSS - Third International Mathematics and Science Study) provides a testimony for the talent and skill of Austria’s students. In fields such as biology, physics and geology, the young Austrians earned first place. In arithmetic they ranked behind Korea and Japan in third place. Almost half of technical graduates chose chemistry or physics, and around 17 percent were trained as specialists in the fields of electronics and mechanical engineering.

 

Austria’s research sector reflects its economic structure. The most significant research fields include:

environmental technology, chemicals, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. In addition, research centers have been established in the fields of electronics and information technology.

 

Extensive IT clusters have emerged in the areas around Vienna, Linz, Graz and Salzburg, which present an ideal structural mix of R&D institutes, innovation centers and technology-oriented businesses. Leading technology concerns use Austria as a base for worldwide development projects including Alcatel, IBM, Philips and Siemens.

 

Vienna

 

The City of Vienna is the federal capital of the Republic of Austria and the country’s largest city with 1.6 million inhabitants. Vienna is the fourth-most affluent EU region and produces 30% of the Austrian GDP.

 

Vienna offers state-of-the-art infrastructure for road, rail, waterway and air traffic. The Vienna International Airport is home to 230 companies and is the major EU hub to Eastern Europe.

 

Besides traditionally strong business sectors like urban and environmental technologies, transport, trade, finance or business related services the city focuses on IT and biotechnology, particularly in biomedicine, telecommunications, logistics and transport technology. In Vienna´s 2nd district office towers have been developed for IT businesses. A new Business Park called Tech Gate Vienna is being built to give high-tech companies the perfect environment to develop new products. It will provide an excellent launch pad and base for any investor looking to move into the European hi-tech market.

 

Companies that have made the move into the city include General Motors, Philips, Siemens, IBM, Motorola, Eli Lilly and Coca-Cola. 1000 international companies have established their regional headquarters in Vienna.

 

Vienna´s universities educate more than 120.000 students. The city is one of the three headquarters of the UNO and home to 900 university and non-university research centers. Vienna is the major Austrian research hub with approximately half the number of Austrian research institutes being located in the city and it is the consumer of over half the national research expenditure.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Mr Burkhard Weiler

Vienna Business Agency

Ebendorferstrasse 2

Vienna

A 1010

Austria

 

 

tel: +43 (0) 1 4000 86 796

fax: +43 (0) 1 4000 86188

 

 

Southern Austria

 

Graz is located in Austria and has a population of around 300,000 people. The proportion of employees in the technological sector is very high at 60%, compared with 47% for the rest of Austria. A highly entrepreneurial population in Graz means that business creation rates are also high.

 

There are six leading fields of expertise in Graz: mechanical engineering, steel construction, environmental technology, transportation production, electrical engineering and electronics.

 

The environmental technology sector has been particularly identified as having potential for growth and the city is now concentrating much of its effort on becoming a European center of eco high-tech.

 

Companies located in the region include Chrysler, Simmering-Graz-Pauker, the transport technology company, AVL-List the medical technology company and Austria Mikro-Systeme International AG, which develops and produces ASICs.

 

There are three universities in the city, extra-university research institutes and technical colleges supporting 42,000 students. There are also a number of companies with special departments for research and development, such as AVL and Vianova.

Two technology parks offer investors an excellent location and access to qualified manpower and a high proportion of technical and scientific specialists.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Business Location Graz

Department for the Development of Economy and Tourism

Jungferngasse 3

A-8010 Graz

 

 

tel: +43 316 872 4800

fax: + 43 316 872 4809

 

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Lower Austria Region

Landhausplatz

St Polten

3109

Austria

 

 

tel: +43 (0) 2742 2000

fax: +357 2 3781642

 

 

 

Western Austria

 

Linz is the capital of the Upper Austria province and the region’s economic, administrative and education center. Linz airport offers daily connection flights to Frankfurt, Zurich, Dusseldorf, Brusells and Vienna. The city also has an excellent rail transport infrastructure and the road network is directly linked to the main traffic artery with connections to Northern and Southern Europe.

 

Major areas of expertise in Linz include control and instrumentation technology, automation, software and electronics. It is an area where a number of high-tech companies such as KEBA, Siemens, GEC Alsthom and Hoffmann-La Roche have decided to locate.

 

At the heart of the region’s research capability is the Johannes Kepler University with 17.000 students and 3 faculties: engineering and science, economic and social studies and legal sciences.

International post graduate studies are offered by the Linzer International Management Academy for executives and university graduates. Centers of Exellence for Software, Multi-Media, New Media and Communication Technology are situated in the Ars Electronica Center and in the unique software park Hagenberg which is just 20 minutes by car north of Linz.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Linz (Austria)

Economic Development

Neues Rathaus

Hauptstrasse 1-5

Linz

A 4041

Austria

 

 

tel: +43 (0) 732 7070 2311

fax: +43 (0) 73 2 707 02333

 

 

Salzburg is known around the world as the birthplace of Mozart, a city of international cultural heritage and a festival venue. But it is much more than that, being also a high-tech region, a showplace of advanced culture and a centre for the production of media content.

 

With approximately 500,000 inhabitants, the Federal State of Salzburg is on the axis through Northern Italy-Salzburg-Bavaria/Southern Germany. Its gross regional product well above the Austrian average. A study by the German research institute Empirica rates the state 16th out of a total of 449 economic regions in Europe.

 

Integrated into an efficient pan-European transport infrastructure, and with the second largest international airport in Austria, the important export markets of Germany, Italy and Eastern Europe can easily be reached.

 

Many foreign companies have established here including Sony, which has one of the largest CD/DVD production facilities in the world in Anif and Thalgau.

 

Salzburg is the leading state in Austria with regard to the telecommunications infrastructure, with the data highway networks meeting the requirements of modern communications at competitive rates. Salzburg is host to the largest technology centre in Austria. Over 100 IT Companies, 7 telecom operators, 3 internet service providers, research facilities, the University of Salzburg/Computer Sciences and the University of Applied Sciences in Information Technologies, which with its 1,200 students, forms a centre of digital expertise in the economy. Technical college courses for applied science and technology are designed to be practical and focus on application-oriented research. Courses include telecoms and engineering systems, MultiMediaArt, Information Business and a new program for Digital TV and Interactive Services.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Mr Michael Rechberger

Salzburg Agentur GmbH

Schillerstrasse 30

Salzburg

5020

Austria

 

 

tel: +43 (0) 662 451327 22

fax: +43 (0) 662 451327 11

 

 

Tirol:

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Mr Gunther Blunder

Tech Tirol Technologiezentrum GmbH

Eduard-Bodem Gasse 5

Innsbruck

6020

Austria

 

 

tel: +43 (0) 512 361400-0

fax: +43 (0) 512 361400-20

 

 

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