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Austrian Foreign Trade News and Analysis
Minister of Economy Visited Huawei and Alibaba During State Visit to China
Federal Minister of Digitization and Business Location Margarete Schramböck signed an agreement to facilitate access to Chinese trading platforms for Austrian companies during the current state visit to China at the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFCOM) in Beijing. Global experience shows, however, that one should be cautious with regard to technical cooperation with Chinese and copyright issues.
April 12, 2018
New Double Taxation Agreement Between Israel and Austria
After almost 50 years, a new double taxation agreement (DTA) for income and capital taxes was signed between Israel and Austria, which includes substantial tax relief.
April 10, 2018
OMV Buys Oilfield Shares in Abu Dhabi for USD 1.5 Bln
Listed oil corporation OMV is acquiring 20 percent of two offshore oil fields in Abu Dhabi from the Abu Dhabi oil group ADNOC. The purchase price for the concession and the associated infrastructure amounts to USD 1.5 billion. OMV has already a long relationship with Abu Dhabi. OMV opened a representation office in Abu Dhabi in 2007. Today Abu Dhabi is the location of the Business Hub for OMV´s Upstream Middle East & Africa activities.
April 6, 2018
FACC Achieves Sales Record of EUR 750.7 Mln in 2017/18
FACC, the Sino-Austrian aircraft component manufacturer generated preliminary sales of 750.7 million euros, and the order backlog increased to US$ 5.9 billion. On March 19, FACC entered the ATX, Austria's leading index on the Vienna Prime Market, and has since been one of the 25 largest and most traded companies in Austria.
April 4, 2018
80th Anniversary of Mexico’s Protest Against Anschluss of Austria to Hitler-Germany
On 19 March 1938 Mexico submitted a note of protest to the League of Nations against the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany (known as “Anschluss”). At that time Mexico was the only member of the League of Nations to issue a written protest.
March 21, 2018
TTTech Sets Up Joint Venture in Shanghai to Deploy Key Technology for Autonomous Driving Cars in China
The Vienna-based technology company TTTech and China's largest automotive group Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) announced a joint venture with the intention to produce an Intelligent Driving Central Controller (iECU), which will be installed on the first China-made intelligent driving vehicle later this year. TTTech holds 49.9 percent in the new joint venture.
March 15, 2018
Austrian Delegation Seeks to Improve Economic and Political Relations with Jordan
An official visit of President Van der Bellen to Jordan will take place from 17 April to 19 April 2018. The delegation to Amman will be accompanied by an economic mission headed by WKO Vice President Richard Schenz. The economic mission of the WKO is the response of an invitation issued some time ago by the President of the Chamber of Commerce of the Kingdom.
March 8, 2018
Trevor Traina Looks Forward to Become the United States Ambassador to Austria
Today Mr. Trevor Traina testified before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Nomination Hearing. If confirmed, Mr. Traina is to become the next Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Austria. Traina: I am humbled to be President Trumps nominee to be the United States Ambassador to Austria. If confirmed, his grandmother, who just celebrated her hundredth birthday and who is the widow of his late grandfather Wiley T. Buchanan Jr. (who also served as U.S. ambassador to Austria), would have the confusing honor of being the wife and the grandmother of the Ambassador to Austria.
March 1, 2018
Chancellor Kurz Visits President Putin: "The situation in Syria is dramatic"
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz traveled to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin. The focus of the trip was a working meeting with the Russian President, with whom Kurz discussed, among other things, the bilateral relations of both countries, the relationship between Russia and the EU, the Ukraine conflict and the current situation in Syria.
February 28, 2018
Rosenbauer: Preliminary Figures 2017
Rosenbauer is reporting EBIT of EUR 25.6 million for the 2017 financial year (2016: EUR 47.0 million). In particular, the decline in the Group's earnings is due to the decreased delivery volume in 2017 as a result of the low price of oil and ongoing political conflicts. This led to weak capacity utilization in some production areas.
February 13, 2018
Indian Ministry of Railways Discusses India-Austria Railway Cooperations
The Indian Minister of Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhu paid a visit to Austria. In an event organized by the Chamber of Commerce H.E. Mr. Prabhu met with CEOs and Austrian Railway Companies to discuss possible further India-Austria cooperations in the field of railways technology.
July 21, 2016
New "Open Austria Initiative" Supposed to Open Doors to Silicon Valley
Foreign Ministry and Austrian Economic Chamber open joint office in California to support Austrian companies and pave their way for success in Silicon Valley.
July 14, 2016
Best Gaming Technology Acquired by Rival Playtech
Vienna-based maker of software for self-service betting terminals Best Gaming Technology (BGT) has been acquired by UK gambling software group Playtech for €138m. Playtech holds the option to purchase the remaining shares for up to €55m from Armin Sageder, the company’s founder and chief executive.
July 14, 2016
Austrian Post's Turkish Subsidiary in Conflict with Majority Owner
Post AG is involved in a buyback conflict regarding the Turkish subsidiary. Post took over a 25-percent stake in Turkish parcel delivery service Aras Kargo in 2013; it had been granted an option to buy another 50 percent of the shares. The company has been negotiating to use the option for a year now, but has been unable to reach a compromise.
July 5, 2016
Austrian Business Meets Foreign Diplomacy
In the context of the ‘Business meets Diplomacy’ series of events, representatives of the Austrian economy meet members of the foreign diplomatic corps for an exchange of views on Austrian business and the economy.
June 20, 2016
What Brexit Means for Austria: Mitterlehner, Kurz, Fiat Steyr
Mitterlehner hopes that the referendum will end in Britain staying in the EU. Kurz says, that Brexit would be terrible. Fiat could relocate production of agriculture and construction machine maker CNH (Case New Holland) from UK to Steyr in case of Brexit.
June 20, 2016
Novomatic Takeover of Australian Rival Delayed
The planned investment of the Lower-Austrian gambling group Novomatic in the Australian rival Ainsworth Game Technology has been delayed. Ainsworth will postpone general assembly scheduled for June 3 by up to 30 days. It is at the meeting that shareholders are supposed to approve the deal.
May 25, 2016
175 International Businesses Relocated to Vienna
According to the Vienna Business Agency, last year a total of 175 international businesses relocated to Vienna. Compared to the previous year, the result of 159 relocations was further improved. Compared to the other federal states, Vienna was able to attract almost five times more international businesses than the second-placed Carinthia, which, according to statistics of the Ministry of Economy, recorded 36 new businesses, followed by Salzburg (25), Tyrol (20), and Lower Austria (18).
April 21, 2016
India-Austria Bilateral Foreign Trade Volume Increases to EUR 1.40 Billion
Last year was a very good year for India-Austria foreign trade. Experiencing a much faster growth rate than Austria’s overall trade, Austria imported items amounting to EUR 702 million from India and exported a volume amounting EUR 700 million to India.
April 20, 2016
AUA Started Flights to Shanghai, Tokyo Will Be Removed
The initial Austrian Airlines flight to Shanghai took off from Vienna yesterday. AUA will terminate the connection to Tokyo as of September 4 and will rather bet again on Chinese destinations. The economic slowdown of the Japanese economy made the Vienna-Tokyo route unprofitable. Instead AUA starts with five weekly flights to Shanghai on a Boeing 777.
April 7, 2016
Linz-Based Unit of Bilfinger Delivers EUR 10 Mln Pipe System to Egypt
Bilfinger VAM, a Linz-based unit of German construction firm, will enjoy a capacity utilisation until autumn thanks to the contract for a pipe system in Egypt, the company said. The firm shares the EUR 10 million (USD 11.3 million) deal with another Bilfinger unit.
April 7, 2016
Voestalpine Acquires Specialty Steel Firms in Shanghai and Barcelona
Voestalpine steel buys two specialty steel firms. With the purchase of Advanced Tooling Tek (ATT) in Shanghai, China, and the Sermetal Group in Barcelona, Spain, Voestalpine is enhancing its position as a producer of special steels. Both companies are specialized in the processing and sale of special steel products for tool and mold-making, a segment whose main customers are the automotive and electronics industries. Together ATT and the Sermetal Group have around 160 employees and generated a total revenue of around EUR 43 million in 2015.
April 7, 2016
RBI Not to Sell Zuno Bank to ABH Holdings
The sale of Raiffeisen Bank International’s (RBI) direct bank Zuno to the Alfa Banking Group will not be concluded because ABH Holdings withdrew from the contract of sale.
March 1, 2016
Austria Strengthens Synergies between Diplomatic and Business Community
Diplomacy and business go hand in hand. From now on, synergies between the representation networks of the Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber are to be used more efficiently.
February 26, 2016
Siemens Austria Builds World's Largest Metro Project in Saudi Arabia
The Austrian unit of Siemens announced in Vienna Simmering at the rollout of the first vehicle that a "a very, very big order” has been secured. With six lines and a total route length of 175 kilometers, the capital of Saudi Arabia Riyadh is planning the world's largest subway project. Siemens is to supply the entire turnkey system for two driverless metro lines.
February 24, 2016
Austrian Business Delegation to Visit India - Results
Austria's business delegation has returned from a five-day visit to India. What did they achieve?
February 23, 2016
Erste Group Provides Blackstone with a 5-Year EUR 91 Million Facility
Erste Group provides Blackstone with a 5-year EUR 91 million facility to acquire 12 logistics assets. The 265000 sqm portfolio covers 12 standing logistics investments located in Hungary (5), Romania (4), Poland (2) and Slovakia (1), as well as land reserves.
February 22, 2016
UniCredit Bank Austria Named Best Trade Finance Bank in Austria
US financial magazine Global Finance selected Bank Austria for the eighth time in a row "Best Trade Finance Bank" in Austria.
January 21, 2016
Central and Eastern Europe's Financial Elite Gathered at the CEE Forum in Vienna
The 21st Euromoney Central and Eastern European Forum ended in Vienna today, where 1000 delegates from the region joined local and international investors to help plan, debate and analyze the economic agenda for the region for the year ahead. The vast majority of the delegates have a negative outlook for the year 2016. Only one of the participants expects that this year CEE will grow more than 3.5%.
January 20, 2016
Austrian-Russian Friendship Society to Appoint Richard Schenz as New President
Dr. Richard Schenz has recently been appointed as new President of the Austrian-Russian Friendship Society (ORFG - Österreichisch-Russische Freundschaftsgesellschaft). He succeeds CEO Ludwig Scharinger who left office for health reasons. KR Sen.hc Richard Schenz is a Vice President of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKO). He was formerly CEO of OMV and Capital Markets Advisor to the Austrian Minister of Finance.
December 22, 2015
RBI Sells Slovenian Subsidiary to US Private Equity Firm Apollo
Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI) has reached an agreement to sell its Slovenian bank, Raiffeisen Banka d.d., to Biser Bidco, which is managed by an affiliate of Apollo Global Management, LLC. The purchase price has not been disclosed. The expected deconsolidation effect on RBI’s consolidated result will amount to minus EUR 49 million.
December 10, 2015
India Forum at the Austrian Federal Chamber of Commerce
Recently the Foreign Trade Department of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber organised an event focused on India. Entitled “Parameters for Your Success with Business in India”, the event counted with the participation of ca. 70 Austrian companies and entrepreneurs aiming for India or potentially being interested in doing business there.
December 3, 2015
Constantia Flexibles Acquires SE Asian Labels Producer Pemara
Constantia Flexibles Group strengthens its position in the Southeast Asia labels market by acquiring the Australian company Pemara Labels Group. The parties agreed not to disclose any financial details and the transaction is expected to close in the next few months. Pemara operates four plants in Australia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia, along with sales offices in Sydney (Australia) and Manila (Philippines).
December 1, 2015
Andritz Subsidiary Schuler Lands Large-Scale Contract in China
Schuler AG has received a further major order from FAW Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd. The Chinese company ordered press line with ServoDirect Technology and a servo tryout press for its Qingdao facility. With a total force of 81,000 kilonewtons, the servo press line will be mainly used to produce car body parts, such as hoods or doors. The order value is in the middle double-digit-million-euro range.
November 30, 2015
EBRD to Become 30 Per Cent Shareholder in Raiffeisen Bank Aval
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is about to become a 30 per cent shareholder in Raiffeisen Bank Aval JSC (RBA), a leading universal bank in Ukraine and a subsidiary of Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI), under an agreement signed in Kiev today.
November 25, 2015
UniCredit - Bank Austria: CEE Operations Move from Vienna to Milan - Retail Business to be Sold or Restructured
Until the end of 2016, all CEE interests with currently 48,000 employees have to be transferred to Milan. Until now this division has been the most important earner for Bank Austria. The 13 banking subsidiaries of Bank Austria in Eastern and Southeastern Europe employ nearly 48,000 people - and thus the majority of the approximately 57,000 employees of Bank Austria. The retail banking business of in Austria with 1.6 million customers has to be sold or restructured, Unicredit announced in the afternoon.
November 11, 2015
Tensions Prior to Announcement of the UniCredit Savings Plans
It is rumored that the groupwide reduction of up to 14,000 jobs will be announced today. It is also about the future of Bank Austria. Bank Austria's parent UniCredit may withdraw the group's CEE head office from Vienna.
November 11, 2015
VIG Completes Acquisition of Latvian Non-Life Insurer Baltikums AAS
Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) has finalized the 100-percent acquisition of Riga-based Baltikums AAS. As a result of the acquisition, Vienna Insurance Group is now one of the top five insurers on the Latvian market.
October 27, 2015
Bank Austria Sells Prominent Property "The Mall" to Morgan Stanley Consortium
UniCredit Bank Austria AG announces that the purchase agreement for the shopping centre The Mall at Wien Mitte was signed with Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI), pending approval by the antitrust authorities.
October 22, 2015
Xi Jinping's Strategy Represents a Significant Threat to European Industry
AEGIS Europe, the manufacturing alliance of 30 European industry associations express skepticism at Chinese President Xi Jinping's remarks to the media during London visit. The alliance called into question Mr Xi's comments to the media about China's orientation towards a more open and transparent market.
October 21, 2015
RBI’s Russian Subsidiary Sells its Pension Fund Business
RBI’s Russian subsidiary (AO Raiffeisenbank) closed the sale of its pension fund business (ZAO NPF Raiffeisen) to the Russian BIN Group. The transaction will result in a one-off gain before tax of around EUR 87 million for RBI, which will be booked in the fourth quarter of 2015. It has been agreed that the parties will not disclose the price at which the transaction took place.
October 19, 2015
How Can Exporters Benefit from the "Go-International Initiative" of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce?
Even in a challenging global economic environment, exports remain the driving force behind the Austrian economy. The go-international initiative of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce encourages companies to step across the border by offering advisory services, events and support, as well as making it easier for existing exporters to enter additional foreign markets.
October 19, 2015
Executives of Austrian Companies in the US and Canada Met in Chicago
For the second time, the Annual Conference for Executives of Austrian Subsidiaries returned to Chicago. A group of renowned financial, legal, economic experts and consultants presented an outlook on the business environment as well as forecasts for the US and Canadian economies to an audience of some 100 top-level Austrian executives and important decision makers from a variety of industries.
October 8, 2015
Indian Women Empowering Austrian Women
On October 2nd the Ladies Organization of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FLO) is a guest at the Austrian Chamber of Commerce. Thirty-eight Indian entrepreneurs from the sectors of textile, crafts and jewelry are expected. In addition, the fields of education and arts management are represented.
September 28, 2015
Export Award: Austria's Best Exporters
The success of exporters on international markets secures prosperity and jobs in Austria, with six out of every ten euros generated by exports. Recently the 2015 Export Award winners were selected by an independent expert panel. The Austrian Export Award gives annual recognition to the most dedicated and successful companies.
September 11, 2015
Vienna as a Congress City Takes Second Place Worldwide
Austria's capital city, Vienna, has once again confirmed its standing as one of the world's most popular congress cities in 2014. In the 2014 ranking of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) Vienna took second place with 202 international congresses, thereby climbing one place against 2013. Paris (with 214) was at the top of the ranking.
September 11, 2015
Austrian Airlines Returns to Shanghai
The return to Shanghai highlights the continued importance of the Chinese market to Austrian Airlines and the high value attached to its outbound market in particular. Austrian Airlines had already included Shanghai in its flight schedule starting on April 28, 2004. However, flight service was terminated in January 2007 as part of the redimensioning of the airline’s long-haul fleet and the related decommissioning of all its Airbus A330 and A340 long-haul aircraft.
September 10, 2015
British Police Orders Surveillance Aircraft from Austrian Airborne Technologies
The UK National Police Air Service (UK NPAS) has awarded the contract to deliver 4 role-equipped fixed-wing surveillance aircraft to Airborne Technologies from Wiener Neustadt. In addition to substantial German police units, another important police force will now rely on the Austrian company that has established itself as potential partner for police aviation.
September 10, 2015
Austrian President Fischer is First European Head of State to Visit Iran
Austrian President Heinz Fischer is the first European head of state to visit Iran following the successful conclusion of nuclear talks between the Islamic Republic and the P5+1.
September 7, 2015
Expat Insider: Country Report Austria - Safe & Sound
InterNations shares with you a detailed picture of life abroad in Austria: why people relocate, what their daily life is like, and how satisfied they are. Known for schnitzels, mountains, and bodybuilders turned governors, Austria has excellent rankings in the Quality of Life, Working Abroad, and Family Life Indices, but settling in isn't easy. They provide an in-depth country profile of Austria. Read on and find out what expatriate life in your dream destination Austria is actually like.
August 25, 2015
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