Land of subsidies in an excellent geographic location

Burgenland – land of subsidies in an excellent geographic location

Attractive and business-friendly funding programmes combined with the proximity to economic centres.

As part of the Vienna region, the province of Burgenland is surrounded by business opportunities more so than most of the other provinces. It has the perfect location situated between East and West. The mountains and the Pannonia. The major cities of Vienna, Bratislava, Graz, Ljubljana and Budapest, plus the new growth markets in the East and a domestic market of almost four million consumers on the doorstep.

Burgenland is able to act as a hub due to its close proximity to Slovakia and Hungary as well as Slovenia. Within just 100 kilometres there are three international airports: Vienna-Schwechat, Bratislava and Graz-Thalerhof. The majority of business locations are accessible via major road networks (A3, A4 and A6 in North Burgenland as well as the S31 in Middle Burgenland and the A2 in Southern Burgenland) and some of the locations have rail connections.

Four business parks make Burgenland an attractive place to settle for national and international companies and aim to make the road to success easier for those who locate there. All six technology centres in Burgenland are directly connected to the Burgenland Data Highway via fibre optic cable networks.

Interview with Burgenland’s Minister of Economy

World Champion Austria spoke to Leonhard Schneemann, Minister of Economy at the Burgenland Provincial Government, about the latest developments and future plans.

Burgenland as a business location – what is the current focus? What is the long-term focus? Right now, the focus of the business location Burgenland is on securing livelihoods. Securing livelihoods is important as the Covid crisis has meant that many businesses in Burgenland have fallen into difficulty due to the massive decline in orders, which of course resulted in a decline in turnover. Our biggest priority is to counter this with appropriate measures and maintain the structure of the economy.

At the start of the crisis we put together a Covid support package. On the one hand, this included hardship funds with non-repayable subsidies and on the other hand, the Province assumed liabilities for bridging loans, which are processed by house banks. And the Province of Burgenland is bearing the interests for businesses in the tourism sector that have secured financing via the Austrian Hotel and Tourism Bank (ÖHT).

In the medium-term, the aim is to put stimulatory measures in place in order to revive the economy, to get it back to the level it was before the crisis and thus create a basis for long-term growth. These measures are currently being compiled. In addition, we are backing a more intensive business settlement programme. To support this, the Province is offering to help companies in their settlement combined with an attractive funding package.

Photo: Landesmedienserviec Burgenland

In Edelstal, Coca-Cola HBC Austria invested in a high-speed line, which is one of the quickest in the world and also particularly energy-efficient.

Business parks

c Heiligenkreuz c Overall size of 680,000 sqm c Located in the border triangle between Austria, Hungary and Slovenia c Kittsee c Overall size of 350,000 sqm c Located near Vienna and Bratislava c Müllendorf c Overall size of 587,000 sqm c Direct connection to the A3 motorway c Parndorf/Neusiedl am See c Overall size of 1,075,000 sqm c Direct connection to the A4 motorway

Centres of technology

c TZ Eisenstadt – computer science and communication c TZ Güssing – renewable energies c TZ Jennersdorf – optoelectronics and LED technologies c TZ Mittelburgenland – computer science and e-business c TZ Neusiedl am See – innovative companies c TZ Pinkafeld – economics and science

Job market and economic structure

c Total number of jobs c Apprentices

c Jobseekers (annual average)2

c Unemployment rate 2

c Members at the Economic Chamber 106,042

2,579

8,411

7.3%

25,838

c Business formations3 1,638 c Gross value added in mln euros (2018) 8,047 c Gross regional product in mln euros (2018) 9,006 c Share in the Austrian GDP (2018) 2.3% c Gross regional product per capita in euros (2018) 30,700 c Foreign trade in mln euros (Q1+Q2) c Imports 1,311 c Exports 1,214 c Tourism overnight stays (x 1,000) 3,144 c Patent issuances nationally (2018) 17

Digitisation, climate targets, research and development. What is Burgenland doing in this regard? All of these promising buzzwords are already part of our plan for the future and form part of the central implementation projects. Digitisation will be strengthened within Burgenland’s companies with the help of attractive support measures. But it will also be practised in the offices of the provincial government. Burgenland’s administration will become more digital with the help of several projects.

Climate targets are also shaping our plans and projects, and are constantly included in our actions. In addition to the already existing incentives to reduce CO2 emissions, further measures will be introduced to help protect our invaluable climate and nature.

What is Burgenland planning in terms of research and development? Or in other words, what is the focus there? Up until now, Burgenland’s focus with regards to research has been predominantly on project-based research. This highly successful research is particularly reflected in Burgenland’s pioneering role in the use of renewable energy. In the last two decades, Burgenland has managed to cover its own annual electricity needs by 150 percent. This pioneering role in Europe can be traced back to our very successful project-based research. In the coming years, basic research will also be given a push.

How will this be done? In terms of basic research, the future focus will be on the securing peoples’ livelihood. We have seen during the Covid crisis how dependant it is on other countries across all sectors. In addition, we aim toreach significant milestones in the areas of sustainability, water management, energy and circular economy.

Why should companies settle in Burgenland specifically? Burgenland is an attractive location for businesses. It offers many relevant components that are beneficial for a desirable working environment. The geographical location in the “Vienna region” near to the economic hubs of Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest is of great relevance. In addition to the favourable infrastructure, Burgenland also has an excellent supply of skilled workers. Furthermore, the Province of Burgenland offers very attractive and business-friendly funding programmes and thanks to the quick official channels, things can be processed quickly. This is something that really showed during the latest crisis. ◆

Photo: Energie Burgenland

Energie Burgenland will be investing 420 million euros into renewable energies by 2025.

Burgenland, land of subsidies

c Information on funding possibilities in Burgenland www.burgenland.at/foerderungen

Point of contact for the IGR/ERDF EU programms

c Regionalmanagement Burgenland GmbH www.rmb.at; www.eu-service.at c Wirtschaft Burgenland GmbH www.wirtschaft-burgenland.at c Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH/ERP-Fonds www.awsg.at c Kommunalkredit Public Consulting www.publicconsulting.at c Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft www.ffg.at