Following on from a very successful webinar on Austria delivered by GMCC on June 23, I am following up with a brief overview on trading with Austria.
Austria is ideally located to target the Eastern European market and has a large number of HQs for Central and Eastern Europe located in Vienna. A big opportunity in Austria is e-commerce and the possibility of using it as a base to attack the 100m person DACH German speaking market.
Key sectors with opportunities for NW companies include Chemicals, Automotive Components, Cyber Tech, Fin Tech, Insure Tech, Consumer Goods, Food & Drink and Textiles and the NW has had success in these sectors to date.
Austria is a very wealthy and highly developed economy and is only interested in High Tech and Innovative Solutions. Whatever you are proposing has to have significant Added Value to be of interest to the Austrian market.
In terms of culture, it is important to aware of some key characteristics of Austrian society. There is an understanding that Time is Money and as such, punctuality is valued and expected. Any emails or phone calls you receive should be answered promptly. Communication is direct and participative so don’t beat about the bush! It is a highly success oriented society and emphasis is on equity, competition and performance.
In practical terms, both Linked In and Xing are used for contacts so if you have not already done so, it would be worth having a Xing account. You can do this by going to www.xing.com and choosing Deutsch to input your German language profile. Please use professional translators for this and any other written communication.
For more information on trading with Germany, please go to DIT guide https://www.great.gov.uk/markets/austria/
Viel Glueck!
If you would like to discuss exporting to Austria, please feel free to contact Margaret Bourke DIT NW, Margaret.bourke@tradenw.org, mobile 07966 308 481