Second best settlement record – international interest in Vienna as a non-stop business location
Vienna (OTS) – Vienna will start 2021 with the liquidation of 225 foreign companies the second best settlement record in the recent past. A result that proves that the city is extremely attractive for companies even in years of crisis.
Mayor Michael Ludwig: “This clear commitment by 225 international companies to Vienna as a location shows that our stable and forward-looking course setup is also valued abroad as a basis for economic success.”
The decision of foreign companies to choose Vienna as a new location also has direct economic effects: the 225 settlements in Vienna are settled 442 million euros in investments off and create 2,673 jobs.
To keep Vienna constantly on the radar of international companies, the city has stepped up its international localization marketing activities in the last year. “In promoting the place of business internationally, we will not give up in 2022 and will continue our global activities consistently. Especially in economically challenging times, it is even more important to convince as many companies as possible that Vienna is always a good breeding ground for economic success and international exchange”, says Peter Hanke, councilor for economic affairs. Furthermore, Hanke emphasizes the consistently good cooperation between the Vienna Business Agency and the Austrian Business Agency, which also creates a basis for the establishment -successful of foreign companies in Vienna.
Compared to 2020, the number of settlements in 2021 exceeds the triggered investments the previous year’s figures by two-thirds (68 percent), the number of guaranteed jobs decreased by more than half (56 percent) rose. The settlement numbers for 2019 are still unparalleled, but after overcoming the Corona crisis, the city intends to surpass those record figures again in the coming years.
US has Vienna on its radar
With 17 companies established, the United States reached the top 3 countries of origin. As in previous years, Germany continues to lead with 41 companies, followed by Italy with 19 projects.
“Despite travel restrictions, our international team contributed significantly to this superior result in 2021,” says Gerhard Hirczi, Managing Director of the Vienna Business Agency. “We know that the economic advantages Vienna has to offer can be communicated particularly successfully in face-to-face contact, and companies willing to set up are happy to take the hand we offer on such occasions.”
Incidentally, there are also “newcomers” in the 2021 liquidation balance sheet: for the first time, companies from Tunisia and Cameroon are among the new settlements in Vienna.
The 225 new foreign companies in Vienna are all economic sectors distributed. Mainly in the strongholds of the city, such as the life sciences or ICTarea, particularly strong accents are noticeable.
An example of this is the US technology company Dynatrace, founded in Linz in 2005 and now listed on the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange). Last year, the globally active Boston-based company opened a new research and development laboratory in Vienna. “At our development site in Vienna, our software developers and product managers are working on new technologies to deal with the massive increase in data. Our office in Vienna acts as an international technology hub that connects our development labs across the world. The perfect location at the main train station and the direct connection to Vienna airport allow our international teams to work together in person,” says Florian Dorfbauer, head of the Dynatrace development lab in Vienna.
Also the programming school founded in Budapest codecool trusts Vienna as its new economic home. Codecool’s target audience is young adults, the company wants to counteract the shortage of qualified workers in the IT sector with its activities. “Vienna is an ideal business location for Codecool because the demand for suitable IT specialists in Austria is huge. Every 13 euros generated in Austria can be attributed to the IT sector, almost half of the total gross added value is concentrated in Vienna. Classic academic courses alone will never be able to meet the demand. We are convinced that we can make up for the lack of IT specialists here with innovative training”, says Sigrid Hantusch-Taferner, Country Manager at Codecool Austria.
More service for international experts
The city is responding to growing international demand for Vienna as a business location with specific support services for skilled foreign workers. Since last year, the Business Immigration Center (BIO) is a new point of service specifically for questions related to the right of residence. Here, the consulting know-how of the Vienna Business Agency is combined with the official competence of MA35 under one roof. AMS Vienna is also involved in many proceedings and provides support on labor market law issues. This should make it easier for foreign workers to settle in Vienna. In the approximately 5 months since the consultation began, the business agency team at BIO has already managed to support the international team specialized in more than 1,100 consultations – and thus contribute to Viennese companies being able to hire the necessary workers with legal certainty .
At the Expatriate Center of the Vienna Business Agency, 11 years ago, advising international professionals went far beyond clarifying purely legal issues related to residence permits. To date, individual assistance has been provided here in over 15,000 counseling sessions on issues related to family changes, career changes, relocation and illness.
For the two service points – Business Immigration Office and Expat Center – the Vienna Business Agency expects a total of at least 2,500 consultations annually in the future.
Questions and contact:
Sabine Hacker
Councilor media spokesperson Peter Hanke
+43 1 4000 81331
[email protected]
Uschi Kainz
Communication Business Agency Vienna
+43 699 1408 6583
[email protected]