179,568 of these have now been settled and 2.155 billion euros have been paid out. Around 500 major investments with a total investment volume of over 20 million euros can still be settled, according to Economics Minister Martin Kocher (ÖVP).
“In total, around 23 billion euros in investments were triggered,” emphasized the minister on Wednesday. A total of 700 million euros would be available for the coming year 2024.
Funding regardless of size or industry
The funding is aimed at all companies regardless of size or industry. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, 68.4 percent of the applications were from micro-enterprises, 17.5 percent from small companies, nine percent from medium-sized companies and 5.1 percent from large companies with more than 250 employees.
The basic bonus is seven percent; investments in digitalization, greening as well as health and life science are particularly favored with a bonus of 14 percent of the investment costs.
Praise with reservations from the Chamber of Commerce
Praise for the funding came from Chamber of Commerce General Secretary Karlheinz Kopf – with reservations. “The investment bonus was a very positive measure through which companies were able to make a large number of investments. The subsequent investment allowance also gave positive impetus, but this should be improved,” he said and called for “optimization”. It is important that digital investments are also encouraged. In addition, higher tax allowance rates would be needed. In addition, the threshold for investment volumes should be increased from the current one million to at least ten million euros.
