In 2023, ABA’s INVEST in AUSTRIA department coordinated the processing of 1,354 inquiries from international companies and monitored 496 ongoing business location and expansion projects.
The total of 325 business location and expansion projects that were ultimately implemented by INVEST in AUSTRIA together with the regional economic development agencies are expected to create 2,419 new jobs. 68 of all the business location and expansion projects implemented were in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector, followed by service-oriented companies (52) and the wholesale sector (41).
35 of the implemented projects supported by ABA concern companies that carry out research and development activities in Austria. “We see this as confirmation of Austria’s steady development into a modern research and innovation location. Austria has been pursuing an attractive funding policy for many years. Our unlimited research premium of 14% for research and development expenditure, numerous direct funding programs, the country’s inventiveness and the dynamic research community are all convincing arguments for investing in Austria,” says René Tritscher, Managing Director of the Austrian Business Agency.
International life sciences companies are investing heavily in Austria.
The life sciences sector shows the greatest enthusiasm for research, as demonstrated by its research facilities and clusters in collaboration with a wide range of pharmaceutical, medical device and biotech companies and developments in areas such as cancer research and precision medicine. Multinationals such as Novartis, Takeda, Octapharma and Fresenius Kabi and many other companies in the sector have again announced plans in 2023 to invest hundreds of millions of euros in their Austrian facilities.
The large number of international start-ups (39) that have decided to invest in Austria in 2023 is also a positive development. United Micro Technology, headquartered in China, has been developing 5G modem chips for the Internet of Things in Linz since 2023. The deep-tech start-up Godot Inc. from Japan has opened its research and development center in Vienna. The company’s new legal form, namely the flexible company or FlexCo (Flexible Capital Company), combines elements of the limited liability company (GmbH) and the stock corporation (AG) and is intended to strengthen Austria’s competitiveness as a business location and make Austria attractive to international start-up founders.
The promising energy and environmental technology sector recorded 23 new projects, making it the fourth most important sector for new investments. Two examples are given here. Bosch will invest around 18 million euros at its Linz site alone to expand its hydrogen infrastructure. The newly founded company Mer Austria GmbH, a subsidiary of the Norwegian energy company Statkraft, is building a sustainable fast-charging infrastructure in Austria for electric vehicles.
