Prof. Dr. Christopher Kummer, H.E. Viet Anh Vu – Ambassador of Vietnam in Vienna, H.E. Wilfried Haslauer
The ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in Vienna, Viet Anh Vu, together with Prof. Dr. Christopher Kummer – one of CEEC members, visited country leader Wilfried Haslauer in the Chiemseehof in Salzburg, Austria.
In the field of economic cooperation, companies from Salzburg export goods worth € 4.3 million annually to Vietnam, three-quarters of which are machines and equipment (for construction, metalworking, packaging, medical and laboratory supplies, among others), the remaining 25% are distributed in wood-, construction products and the food sector.
Economic relations with Austria
Austrian exports to Vietnam have increased enormously over the past two decades. Within ten years they have grown fivefold; over the past 20 years they have grown even 20 times. In 2015 the Austrian goods deliveries reached a new all-time record with a value of 177.3 million euros. The machinery sector – with almost one third of all Austrian exports – was the most important sector. The most important export products were ropeways, working and special machines, followed by pharmaceutical products, measuring instruments, etc.
The Vietnamese goods deliveries to Austria have developed even more dynamically than Austrian exports. Last year alone, the imports from Vietnam increased by 18.3 percent and just missed the 700 million Euro mark. The most important import products in 2015 were electrical equipment, mainly mobile telephones and electric motors. Other important import positions were shoes, textiles and mechanical devices and apparatus.
To date, there are already around 30 Austrian branches in Vietnam, both in the form of sales offices and production sites. The total investment sum is difficult to state, but it is estimated to be around 150 million euros. Especially the region around Ho Chi Minh City in South Vietnam attracts more and more Austrian companies.
Business opportunities for Austrian companies are particularly in the fields of infrastructure, energy, health care, machine and plant construction, steel and paper sector, plastics production as well as chemical and pharmaceutical industries.