World Champion Austria Carinthia
Carinthia – Striving to be a trailblazer in eco-economics Timo Springer, President of the Carinthian Federation of Industries, and Jürgen Mandl, head of the Carinthian Economic Chamber, speak about their “let’s do it” mentality.
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© Johannes Puch
ompared to the other provinces, Carinthia’s economy got away with the smallest of bruises after the Covid pandemic thanks to an impressive foreign trade balance. Exports are still the driving force of the economic upswing, says Christoph Schneider, head of the Department for Business and Trade Policy at the Austrian Economic Chamber: “Exports are the driving force behind the economic come-
Timo Springer, President of the Carinthian Federation of Industries
back. 53 percent of Carinthian businesses surveyed by the Austrian Economic Chamber clawed their way back to the levels of the year before the pandemic; turnovers and orders are seen in a significantly more positive light. But there is still some restraint in investments despite Carinthia managing the economic crisis of the pandemic “almost the best of all”, says Schneider: “In Tyrol, the slump was almost twice as big.” The biggest challenge now is quite obvious, say the businesses: 80 percent struggle to find the right staff. Carinthia isn’t alone here – the lack of skilled staff makes life harder for all businesses across Austria. Timo Springer, President of the Carinthian Federation of Industries, and Jürgen Mandl, head of the Carinthian Economic Chamber, offer further insights. Mr Mandl, Mr Springer, how are the Carinthian businesses doing? Jürgen Mandl: Carinthia’s economy got out of the economic crisis quite well. With an economic slump of 5.6 percent Carinthia managed 2020 better than the Austrian average of minus 6.5 percent. The recently published export data for 2020 confirm this comparatively good result: The decrease of 7.8 percent is much better than we feared at the start of the pandemic. Still, the surplus of 630 million euros in our foreign trade balance is an impressive sign of life. Timo Springer: We are currently seeing a strong economic upturn from which almost all businesses benefit. In this regard, we are no different from other provinces. There are only slight differences among the various sectors. That was different during the crisis. Only a lack of raw materials and supply problems put a strain on businesses and sometimes actually prevent the excellent order situation from making an impact on profits.
