Diplomats as Economic Bridge Builders: Austrian Companies Present Themselves to the Diplomatic Corps
International investors and cross-border business relations were what Tyrolean and Vorarlberg company representatives hoped for at the recently held "Business Location Austria" event. This brought together representatives from business, tourism and entrepreneurship with diplomats accredited in Austria to network with each other.
Dilpomats are to act as bridge builders between Austrian companies and international investors in the course of the event. / Picture: © BMEIA Bundesministerium für Europa, Integration und Äußeres / Flickr Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
At the biannual event "Business Location Austria", actors from the Austrian economy, tourism and business landscape are networked with representatives of other countries accredited in Austria.
The event, held by ReFocus Austria in cooperation with the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, focused this year on entrepreneurs from Tyrol and Vorarlberg. "The diplomats from other countries accredited in Austria are bridge builders, pass on information, promote the respective bilateral relations and can initiate concrete projects.
In the spirit of ReFocus Austria, we want to and must use these channels to be able to act as door openers for the domestic economy," affirmed Secretary General Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal.
In the course of the event, Austria's two westernmost provinces had the opportunity to highlight their advantages and thus establish international partnerships. The business representatives of the two federal provinces hoped to make themselves interesting for foreign investors through their numerous unique selling points.
The Tyrol, for example, inspires enthusiasm as one of the top 30 regions with the strongest economic power in an EU comparison, but above all as a tourism destination. With 12 million guests and almost 50 million overnight stays per year, it even surpasses cities like Vienna, Rome and Berlin.
Meanwhile, Vorarlberg impresses with world-famous brands in the food industry and the world market leader in cable car construction.
At the same time, however, the state has some undiscovered diamonds in the rough with numerous "hidden champions" based in Vorarlberg.
"Even though they are widely regarded as 'hidden champions', our local companies are already superstars among industry experts. As a business service, it is our job to give them access to an even wider audience. We succeed in doing this with this initiative and also ensure that jobs are sustainably secured in Austria," says the head of the business service, Ulrike Ritzinger.
Within the framework of the ReFocus Austria initiative, the more than 100 Austrian representative offices of the Foreign Ministry organise tailor-made events and activities abroad as Team Austria together with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and other federal ministries, the foreign trade department of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber and Österreich Werbung in order to strengthen the domestic export economy. In the first year of ReFocus Austria, over 300 events and projects were thus held in around 85 countries on six continents.
BMEIA Federal Ministry for Europe Integration and Foreign Affairs