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Unrivaled Specialist for Eastern Europe

The whole of Europe is accessible from Austria within 3 hours. The country’s central location in Europe means it is a hub for East-West business relations.

Despite the economic crisis, South East and Eastern Europe are expected to enjoy significantly higher economic growth rates than the EU as of 2011.

Historic Ties

Until the end of the imperial reign dominating the region in the early years of the 20th century, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic as well as parts of today’s Poland, Romania and Croatia belonged to the unified Austro-Hungarian Empire.. Austria is now the investment champion of the CEE region, due to its long tradition with its neighbors to the east that has led to a common mindset and lengthy experience in doing business together.

Historical ties and the intense level of ongoing involvement today make Austria the EU’s undisputed specialist for Eastern and South Eastern Europe.

Knowledge Exchange

Three-quarters of all immigrants in Austria come from Central and Eastern Europe. These people have above-average qualifications, and the proportion of college graduates is very high.

Austria’s universities and educational institutions offer tailor-made training courses, often developed in cooperation with the business community. And vice versa: an increasing number of Austrian educational institutions are offering training courses in Eastern Europe. For example, the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration has been running an Executive MBA course in Bucharest, since 2007.

Multinationals Choose Austria For Headquarters

Multinationals Select Austria and 300 international companies – including 28 Fortune 500 firms – have chosen Austria for their CEE headquarters. These include prominent companies across the business spectrum, ranging from Eli Lilly, Hewlett-Packard, Siemens, BASF, Henkel, Boehringer Ingelheim, Beiersdorf, Philips, General Motors and Renault to Lukoill. All in all, 1,000 companies coordinate their Eastern European business operations from Austria, supported by the independent platform 'Headquarters Austria'.

For Eastern European companies a subsidiary in Austria is often the first step towards the West.

Banking & Investment

Austria’s banks and management consultants have traditionally had access to a far-reaching network of business contacts and expertise in Eastern Europe, making them the undisputed leaders in the region. Every third Euro transacted in Eastern Europe is booked to the accounts of Austrian banks or their subsidiaries.

Banks account for over half of Austrian foreign direct investment in the 20 South East and Eastern European countries. The first World Bank fund specialising in bad loans made in Eastern Europe was established in Vienna.

UniCredit via its subsidiary Bank Austria has the strongest market position in the region. The bank is present in 19 countries, with about 4,000 branches. Raiffeisen is ranked second, with a banking network in 16 markets.

Austria’s attorneys, tax and management consultants, insurance companies and advertising agencies benefit from comparable networks.

Multinationals with Eastern European headquarters in Austria: