A Seminar on Austria, Trade, and Advantage Austria
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
