Austria’s national development promotion agency Invest in Austria (ABA), reports directly to the Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs and provides professional consulting services to businesses seeking to establish a presence in the heart of Europe. Headquartered in Vienna and with a staff of around thirty professionals, ABA is the go-to place for the latest information on one of Europe’s most resilient, well-managed, and attractive economies.
Located at the crossroads of the continent, Austria boasts an excellent and thoroughly modern logistics infrastructure with air, rail, river, and road links to all parts of Europe. As the Balkan states gear up to join the European Union, Austria will be a natural gateway, facilitating trade in both directions.
With a highly educated multilingual population and an education system that is finely attuned to match specific skill demands, Austria’s economy features high productivity. The country is particularly keen to continue its investments in education and scientific research in order to create a business climate that sparks innovation and welcomes start-ups. ABA has actively promoted Austria as a tech start-up hub, working in close cooperation with a number of state-owned and private entities to offer research funding for high-tech firms. The agency also helps maintain a supporting network of seed capital investors, incubators, and business angels.
The CFI.co judging panel notes that Austria has recently streamlined the procedure for setting up a business and maintains an investor-friendly environment with a unified corporate tax rate and generous tax credits for investment in research. The judges are impressed and declare Invest in Austria (ABA) winner of the 2018 Austria Best Destination for Investment in Innovation Europe Award.