A
Seminar on Austria, Trade, and Advantage Austria
On 29th April, we had a special
seminar with Ms. Emma OBENAUS from Advantage Austria. Advantage Austria is the
commercial section of the Austrian Embassy and works as part of the Austrian
Chamber of Commerce. Its main role is to support Austrian companies abroad,
provide market information, and connect Austrian businesses with local
partners. During the session, Ms. OBENAUS introduced Austria, its economy,
Austria-Korea business relations, and her own experience as a Deputy Commercial
Counselor.
At
the beginning, she explained general information about Austria. Austria is
often confused with Australia, so she humorously introduced the phrase "No
kangaroos in Austria." Austria is located in the center of Europe, and its
capital city is Vienna. Since Austria is a member of the European Union, it has
easy access to many European markets. She also explained that Austria is famous
for music, mountains, coffee houses, chocolate, and art. About 60 percent of Austria
consists of the Alps, and many famous musicians, such as Mozart and Beethoven,
are connected to Austria. She also mentioned that Francesca
Donner, the wife of Korea's first president Syngman Rhee, was from Austria,
which shows an interesting historical connection between Austria and Korea.
After that, we learned about
Austria's economy. Austria is a small country, but it is highly dependent on
exports, similar to Korea. Around half of its economic revenue comes from
exports, and many jobs are related to the export sector. Austria exports to
more than 200 countries, mainly within Europe, but trade with Asia has also
grown a lot over the last 20 years. Its major industries include machinery,
engineering, chemical products, steel, life sciences, mobility, green
technology, microelectronics, and tourism. She also described Austria as a
"land of hidden champions," meaning that many Austrian companies are
global leaders in very specific fields, even though they are not widely known
to the public.
In
the next part, Ms. OBENAUS talked about economic relations between Austria and
South Korea. Korea is Austria's 24th trade partner, and around 60 Austrian
companies are located in Korea. Austria exports machinery, vehicles, special
equipment, steel, pork, and semiconductor-related materials to Korea. In
return, Austria imports cars, machinery, plastics, and pharmaceutical products
from Korea. She also introduced several Austrian companies active in Korea,
such as AVL, Swarovski, EV Group, ENGEL, voestalpine, AGRANA, Doppelmayr, and
MED-EL. These examples showed that Austrian technology and products are already
present in many industries in Korea.
She
then explained the role of Advantage Austria in more detail. Advantage Austria
has about 100 offices around the world and helps Austrian companies enter
foreign markets. In Korea, the office provides market information, gives
business advice, organizes events, joins trade fairs, and arranges meetings
between Austrian and Korean companies. For example, they participate in
exhibitions at COEX and KINTEX and sometimes bring Austrian business
delegations to Korea. She emphasized that local Korean staff members are very
important because they know the Korean market well and have contacts in
different sectors.
During the Q&A session, one
student asked how Advantage Austria connects Austrian companies with Korean
companies. Ms. OBENAUS explained that the process requires a lot of
preparation. Korean companies usually want very detailed information before
agreeing to meet, especially large companies such as Samsung or Hyundai.
Therefore, Austrian companies need to clearly explain their business, goals,
and reasons for the meeting. Advantage Austria helps arrange meetings,
accompanies companies, supports translation, and follows up afterward.
Another
student asked about cultural differences between Austrian and Korean companies.
She answered that Korean business culture is generally faster and more
detail-oriented, while Austrian companies may focus more on building personal contact
first. She also said that in Korea, people may not directly say "no,"
so foreign companies need experience to understand the real meaning during
negotiations. There was also a question about Austria being a landlocked
country. She explained that not having a seaport can be a disadvantage, but
Austria uses its strong infrastructure and European transport networks,
including the Danube River.
Lastly, Ms. OBENAUS shared her
personal career path and advice. She studied law in Austria and completed several
internships before joining the Chamber of Commerce. Korea is her first overseas
posting, and she said that flexibility is important in diplomatic and
trade-related careers. She also explained that students interested in this
field should study law, economics, business, or related areas, and language
skills are also important.
Overall,
the seminar was meaningful because we could learn about Austria's economy and
its relationship with Korea from a professional working in the field. It was
interesting to see how a small country like Austria plays an important role in
global trade through exports, technology, and hidden champion companies. The
session also helped us better understand international business cooperation
between Austria and Korea.
Seo Jun Lee&
Won Seok Jang
