Invest In It, Media And Life Sciences In Austria, Says Envoy

By V.Sankara Subramaniam KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 (Bernama) -- Malaysian business startups seeking to become globally competitive, should think of investing in the fields of information technology (IT), media and life sciences, as well as the creative industry in Austria. Austrian Ambassador to Malaysia, Christophe Ceska, said he believes Austria has the competitive edge for attracting Malaysian investors, as the Eastern European country provides a conducive business environment besides highly developed infrastructure and efficient public administration. "In recent years, Austria has gone from sleeping beauty to innovation and progress. The country welcomes Malaysian startups and its founders with open arms," he told Bernama in an exclusive interview. Ceska cited the American business magazine Forbes, which selected Austria as one of seven startup hotspots in Europe. This is due to projects such as the Pioneers Festival, where 1,600 startups from more than 90 countries met with 400 investors from all over the world at Vienna's Hofburg Palace. The ambassador said several tax incentives provided by Austria, including a low corporate tax rate and attractive group taxation scheme, besides having high political stability and a reliable legal system that has attracted budding foreign investors. Austria is the fourth richest country in the European Union with a population of 8.7 million people. It is currently the Eastern Europe Coordination Centre for about 1,000 foreign companies. On education, Ceska said, the Asia-Europe Institute from University Malaya has reached out to Austrian Universities to attract local students there to enroll in summer classes and post-graduate studies in it. "Universiti Sains Malaysia regularly hosts students from Austria on the basis of an exchange programme with Austrian vocational schools and tertiary educational institutions," he added. On tourism, the envoy said about 140,000 people from Southeast Asia visited Austria last year. "We also have a Honorary Consulate in Tawau, east Malaysian state Sabah, which started its mission in July 2015. It has been actively promoting the beauty of Sabah as a tourism destination among Austrians" he said. Ceska said Austria's exports to Malaysia in 2015 amounted to US$539.91 million (488 million euros), while imports from Malaysia increased by 3.4 per cent to reached US$360.70 million (326 million euros). He said Malaysia is the biggest export destination for Austrian products within the ASEAN Economic Community, namely for electronic items, integrated circuits and semi-conductors, industrial equipment, machines and railway equipment. "Austria's exports to Malaysia in the first quarter of 2016 increased by about 12 per cent compared to the same period last year at 128.6 million euros. "This has catapulted Malaysia to 33rd spot among Austria's export destinations, and ahead of Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Hong Kong," Ceska added. --BERNAMA