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28. 09. 12. - 16:29
St Polten looks to German state for business investment
The Lower Austrian capital of St Pölten is advertising itself in Germany not only as a tourist destination, but also as a top business location.
Leading businessmen from Lower Austria are currently in the northern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern promoting "business location St Pölten".
They are looking for potential investors for a 120 hectare business park in the city, which is currently empty.
St Pölten hopes to attract new businesses with its location on the doorstep to eastern Europe, its good transport connections, and good educational facilities.
The states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Austria are of similar size, have a similar population and the same economic performance levels. Therefore Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is regarded as a good place to search for investors, say officials.
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern cities such as Wismar and Schwerin are economically strong due to their geographical location with good proximity to the Baltic Sea.
The company Egger in Wismar already has the business park idea in its sights.
Erich Macala, the Managing Director of Egger, said: "One of the great advantages of the region is its logistics - transport routes and transport costs."
The three man delegation from St Pölten is assessing possibilities of cooperation's both economic and scientific between the two states.
Gernot Kohl, managing Director of the University in St Pölten, said: "Both sides could benefit from a cooperation. The respective universities could cooperate with each other. We have many similar working areas and I could see a cooperation in the future working well for both sides."
By meeting the German companies and working together with them it is hoped new jobs could be created in St Pölten.
Between Spratzern and Sankt Georgen there are 120 hectares of empty business park premises.
The mayor of St Pölten Matthias Stadler said: "St Pölten has a great location, on the doorstep to the east, direction Hungary and Slovakia. Here we see many possibilities to attract new businesses to St Pölten and create new jobs in the region."
