Global Greece-Austria 30. November 2005

Investment and trade between Austria and Greece (November 2005)

Business between Austria and Greece focuses mainly on trade. Especially during the last decade, by doubling its volume, Austrian exports to Greece showed a very good performance. At the same time Austrian companies were able to benefit from the preparation programme for the Olympic Games 2004 in Athens, winning supply tenders, for example for fire-fighting engines or taking part in some of the big infrastructure projects which radically changed Athens. In 2003, the volume of Austrian exports reached 520 million EURO. Only in 2004, when most Olympic supplies and projects were finished, there was a logic drop in export numbers of about 11 percent.

The main Austrian products in the Greek market are machinery, electrical equipment, and vehicles. These products alone account for half of Austria’s exports to Greece. They are followed by paper and textiles, which traditionally had a strong presence in the Greek market. The main Greek export articles to Austria are textiles, tobacco, and milk products. Austrian imports from Greece reached 143 million EURO in 2004.

“I am convinced”, says Jürgen Schreder, Austrian Trade Commissioner for Greece and Cyprus, “that there still remains a lot to do to foster bilateral economic relations: Austria ranks only on the 20th  place on the list of trade partners of Greece, while Greek exports to Austria showed signs of stagnation during the last years. In this context I consider the Olympic Games have been a very good opportunity to promote the business relations of our countries and their products in front of a wider public.

Especially in the energy market Austrian companies could take advantage of the new chances. Austria's VA TECH HYDRO built the first private power station in Greece, in Thessaloniki, which works with natural gas, and VERBUND-Austrian Power Trading is one of the first private companies to supply Greek industries with imported electricity in the liberalized energy market.

Another important field of activities is the services sector. Especially in the construction business, Austrian companies are successful (construction of railways, highways). “Furthermore we should not forget that each year approximately half a million Austrians visit Greece, and also a growing number of Greeks prefer Austria for their holidays – thus tourism is an important field in the Austrian-Greek business relations as well,” says Mr. Schreder.

For the future we foresee a good chance for Austrian companies in the environmental and energy business. Austrian companies are worldwide among the market leaders in the field of environmental technologies. Following the implementation of the respective community guidelines on environmental issues and the liberalization of the energy market we expect an increased demand for Austrian know-how and technology in these fields.”

To further promote Austrian environmental technology the Austrian Trade Commission participated at the Greek exhibition of environmental technology HELECO 05´ at the beginning of this year in Athens and will organize a trade mission with Austrian companies for direct talks with Greek companies in the energy and environmental sector at the end of November.

“In the field of Austrian investment in Greece there is still much room for improvement”, Schreder states. Due to the very strong involvement of Austrian companies in the neighboring Central and Eastern European countries, especially during the last few years, Austrian companies focussed less on some other markets. But the purchase of an equity stake in “Casino Loutraki” by “Casinos Austria International” in the beginning of 2003 strengthened Austrian investments in Greece a lot.
 

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