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Austrian companies mulling higher investments in Romania
Already accounting for over 18 percent of total foreign direct investments in Romania, Austria seeks to give its business here another boost by the freshly established Consulate inaugurated in Sibiu (country center) on June 7, headed by Honorary Consul Andreas Huber, owner of companies Limorom and Autohaus Huber, the Opel representative offices in Sibiu and Deva, respectively.
'Today, Romania can be seen as a destination with a major potential. Special areas of interest are alternative energy, research, suppliers to the automotive industry and tourism infrastructure,' reads a Tuesday statement to Agerpres.
According to data provided by the Austrian Embassy in Romania, direct Austrian investments in Romania are of major importance. Data from the National Bank of Romania shows that direct investments by Austrian companies in Romania are in excess of 9 billion euros, which means 18.1 pct of total foreign direct investments here. Of the 5,990 companies running on Austrian capital in Romania, 80 are located in Sibiu County alone.
Although hurt by the crisis, the Austrian-Romanian bilateral trade is again on the rise, according to the Austrian Embassy. Austrian exports to Romania peaked in 2008 at almost 2.4 billion euros, but dropped to 1.68 billion euros in 2010.
Austrian imports from Romania kept stable, standing at 722 million euros in 2004, 645 million euros in 2009 and advancing to 996 million euros in 2010.
As concerns the development of bilateral foreign trade in the first two months of this year, Austria's imports increased 52.7 pct and its exports to Romania gained 7 percent.
One of the purposes of the Consulate in Sibiu is to help reinvigorate Austrian investments. Austria's Honorary Consul was appointed in office on May 24, 2011, and has the counties of Sibiu, Brasov, Alba, Mures, Harghita and Covasna (center) included in its district.
The diplomatic mission headed by the Honorary Consul of Austria in Sibiu is tasked with supporting the access of Austrian companies in the region, help establish contacts between Romanian and Austrian companies in order to diversify business relations, but also to assist Austrian citizens in Sibiu or in the consular district in liaising with public institutions and local authorities in order to solve various personal problems.