Message from Ambassadors

Austria:Innovation Hub Rightin the Heart of Europe
Hubert HEISS
Ambassador of the Republic of Austria to JapanAs the new Ambassador of Austria to Japan I wish to send
my sincere regards to the readers of the JOI Magazine.
I came to Tokyo about half a year ago. Before my arrival
here I had dedicated almost my whole diplomatic career
to international trading issues and the advancement of theEuropean Union (EU).

Austria’s highly educated and motivated work force, whoalso often speak Eastern European languages. Due tohistoric reasons Austria has always maintained strong
relations to South-Eastern and Eastern Europe. Therefore
Austria often opens doors to growing Eastern Europeanmarkets and is also more and more turning into aninternational business hub.

Both international trade and the European Union, are now
also reflected in my work as the Austrian Ambassador toJapan: Austria and Japan share economic relations thathave always been highly beneficial for both sides andboth countries have a vivid interest in maintaining astrong European Union.

It is not only the country’s political, social and economic
stability and security, its highly advanced infrastructure
and well-trained, motivated skilled employers whichmake Austria an attractive business location. Austria also
has excellent, broad-based research funding and a highreliability of the energy supply.

Austria – Favorable Business Location

Austria’s constant craving for innovation and reforms toadvance as a business location makes it a popular businesshub for foreign investors. Japan, for example, shows aAustria remains strongly committed to the EuropeanUnion and the European Single Market. We
push forward to promote the European idea both
inside and outside of Europe, as it is the biggest
peace project we have ever seen, which alsobrought economic wealth and prosperity toAustria.
Austria, as a dynamic business location, is locatedright in the heart of Europe between East andWest, featuring optimal conditions. Austria’s
attractiveness recently has been confirmed again
by the latest Global Competitiveness Report 20162017: This year Austria moved up four notches
and is now rated 19th globally (out of 138 nations).
The Global Competitiveness Report 2016-2017
also underlines Austria’s business sophistication,
its innovation power, excellent infrastructure and16

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strong interest in investment projects based in Austria,
such as Mitsubishi Heavy Engineering Vienna, Nittoku
Europe GmbH and Infosec Austria GmbH.
Japanese companies appreciate Austria as a head quarter
location right in the heart of Europe, as well as an excellent
location for marketing and sales. And let’s not forget that
Vienna is regularly rated number one of the most livable
cities in the world (see worldwide Quality of Living
Survey 2016, Mercer Consulting).

Research, Innovation and Life
Sciences
Austria offers new opportunities in the areas of research,innovation and life sciences: With 823 companies active
in biotechnology, pharma and medical devices, lifesciences are an important part of Austria’s economy.
Together, these companies are responsible for a turnoverexceeding EUR 19.11 billion in 2014 – about 5.8% of
the GDP. A number of multinational companies dealing
with life sciences are headquartered in or have facilities
in Austria. The biggest Japanese pharmaceutical
TAKEDA is operating a production facility in Linz,
Austria.

class cancer research and revolutionary medicalengineering. These successes in life science have been
made possible through strong initiatives in the researchand development area, among others. Austria has a
research premium of 12% and offers an optimal
networking infrastructure between science and business.

Incentives
Austria has set itself the goal to become Innovation
Leader within the EU by 2020. Therefore, in November
2016, the Austrian Federal Government presented apackage of measures amounting to a total volume ofEUR 1 billion in order to provide further impetus to theresearch location Austria. On the basis of the new
package of measures, the Austrian Federal Government
plans to increase the research premium to 14%, introduce
an employment bonus to reduce auxiliary wage costs
and implement further measures designed to strengthen
the business location.
In order to offer investment incentives for the year 2017,
the possibility of accelerated depreciation will be createdfor companies with more than 250 employees. These firms
will be able to claim an accelerated tax depreciation (or theoption of an incremental investment tax credit) of 30%.

Austria’s booming biotech scene is engaging in world

Invest in Austria
Austria continues to strive for excellence in meeting theneeds of foreign investors and in creating business
opportunities right in the heart of Europe. As theAmbassador of Austria to Japan it is my intention to open
doors to further promote a fruitful economic exchange
between our two countries.
Companies which wish to establish their own business inAustria can also receive information and support at ABA– Invest in Austria.
オーストリア経済振興会社 (ABA)ABA はオーストリア政府によって設立されたコンサルティング会社です。外国企業のオーストリア進出、合弁事業等を全面的にサポートします。お気軽に日本語でお問い合わせください。
Mr. Karl Hagen GENSER
Chief Representative in Japan, ABA Austrian Business Agency
Senior Commercial Officer, Foreign Direct Investment &Trade, Austrian Embassy Commercial Section
3-13-3 Motoazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0046, P.O. Box Shiba 164 Tokyo 105-8691
T: 03 3796 1331 / F: 03 3403 3407 / E: aba-tokyo@advantageaustria.jp / W: www.investinaustria.jp

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