2023-04-25 11:37:04
The cooperation between Austria and Germany is good, but “certainly still expandable”, said Wifo director Gabriel Felbermayr at a press conference on Tuesday. The better the two countries would work together, the greater the chances of success, said the President of the German Chamber of Commerce in Austria (DHK), Hans Dieter Pötsch. It needs a “collaboration in the economic transformation”.
“We have to take care of the internal market,” said the director of the Austrian Institute for Economic Research (Wifo). The internal market is the real powerhouse of the European economy and the best argument for being able to compete with other major economic powers. That is why a new focus on the internal market is needed, more investment in cross-border infrastructure, less going it alone and a cohesive European industrial policy, said Felbermayr.
Foreign trade between Austria and Germany reached a record result in 2022. It was the “best foreign trade result in the history of German-Austrian economic integration,” said Pötsch. The total trade volume increased last year by 22.3 percent to EUR 146.6 billion (2021: EUR 119.4 billion). Growth of around 10 percent is currently expected for 2023. Germany and Austria have shown themselves to be “surprisingly resilient despite the energy crisis, which has not yet been overcome,” said Felbermayr.
Austrian exports to Germany increased by 21.5 percent to 57.7 billion euros in 2022. Around a third of all Austrian exports go to Germany, making Germany Austria’s most important trading partner. “There is no other economic relationship between two European countries that is as intense as that between Austria and Germany,” said Pötsch.
German deliveries to Austria increased by 22.7 percent to 88.8 billion euros. That was “an absolute record value, which meant that Austria rose to sixth place among the most important German export markets,” said Pötsch. Austria mainly imports machines, automotive supplies and chemical products.
According to Felbermayr, however, there are challenges in German industry, which has been “in reverse gear” since 2017 and is on a downward trend. The situation in Austria is different, but you have to monitor developments closely. Because the “German weakness does not mean anything good for the strongly integrated Austrian industry” in the long term, according to the Wifo boss.
In addition, electricity prices in Austria are 10 to 25 percent higher than in Germany. That is also a cause for concern, according to Felbermayr. In a single market there should not be such differences. “The intensity of the economic relationship is so high that such price differences are not good. We should solve this together” and invest in cross-border infrastructure, said the Wifo director.
1682423437
#Wifo #boss #ATDE #cooperation #expanded #SN.at
