Lower Austria and the crisis: How is the economy of Austria’s largest province doing?
I prefer to speak of times of economic difficulty; I don’t like to use the term “crisis”. Let’s be honest: The problems we are facing now are minor, compared to the ones our parents had to overcome after the war. And besides: We entrepreneurs had to conquer other lows before in our business life. Nothing can throw us off course that easily. It certainly is a great advantage that Lower Austria’s economy has a wider range than some other provinces. In times like these, our many medium-sized enterprises in particular turned out to be a great backbone. All in all, I think we have made it through the bottom of the trough, even though it is still too early to erupt in loud cheer.
In light of the tense economic situation, stimulus packages have been created at the federal level. What does the crisis management strategy for Lower Austria look like?
Lower Austria has initiated a total of four stimulus packages with a total volume of 850 million EUR. Especially important is the credit safeguarding model, which makes it easier for SMEs to receive loans from their local banks for operational measures. Parallel to this, we have implemented a credit hotline at the Lower Austrian Economic Chamber, which supports businesses in their loan applications and mediates in case of disagreements. I implemented an increase of subsidy limits and a stronger regional focus with regard to public contracts, in order to give smaller, local businesses a chance at being awarded public contracts again.
With their project “2010+”, the economic chamber presented strategies for the future of Lower Austria as a business location. What does this master plan include?
2010 Plus is not a traditional economic concept; it rather is a mission statement for our province as a business location that has been created in cooperation with opinion leaders from the fields of economy, politics and science. 2010 Plus deals with the great economic questions of the future regarding our business location. The mission statement summarizes the results from four symposiums on the subjects of “Internationalization”, “Leisure and Consumer Behaviour”, “Innovation, Technology, Climate and Energy” and “Education and Employment” with regard to the business location. The goal of 2010 Plus is to optimally position Lower Austria in the international business location competition. We want to bring out the best of our province and show just how much potential it has.
Research is one of the most important drivers of the economy. Which economic measures does the province of Lower Austria set in this area?
There is a lot going on in this field at the moment. For example, as part of the COMET programme, a total of 76 million EUR is being invested in two top research projects in Wr. Neustadt. These competence centres for tribology and medical technology are drawing international attention and are certainly a milestone for Lower Austria’s research sector. And in Wieselburg, where research in the field of small-scale heating with pellets and bio fuels has been conducted for over 30 years, a new technology centre for bio energy will open. At this point, it should not go unmentioned that the economic chamber and the province together have been promoting technology and innovation in a targeted manner since 1989. With our technology and innovation offices, we have created service points all over the province, which are advising businesses (SMEs in particular) and providing them with access to research and technology institutions.
In your opinion, which industries hold the greatest opportunities for growth for Lower Austria?
As a high-wage country, we can certainly not succeed on the international scale based on price. We also do not have great reserves of natural resources or mineral deposits. But what we do have in our province are a great number of excellent thinkers, entrepreneurs and well-trained skilled workers. This is the true wealth of our province. The creative industry in particular has enormous potential that needs to be exploited – in all elements of the entire value creation chain. It is no coincidence that more than ten percent of Lower Austria’s economic output today is generated by the creative industry. We as the economic chamber want to support this creative potential in the best way possible. At our New Design University in St. Pölten, more than 300 students receive a profound education. Especially in times of economic difficulty, it is important to look for new niches and bring new products, ideas and services to the market, thereby giving the economic cycle new stimulus.
|
