The department of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce for the promotion of foreign trade Advantage Austria Belgrade at the embassy in Belgrade announced today that despite the drop in turnover in 40 percent of surveyed companies operating in Serbia, 30 percent plan to invest even more in the next 12 months.
“The vast majority of companies have retained the number of employees, and a third even plan to hire even more people in 2021,” the statement said.
A survey on the objections and advantages of doing business was conducted at the end of 2020 among Austrian companies in Serbia that employ 20,000 people.
It is added that Austrian companies have expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of legal certainty and transparency and too much bureaucracy.
More investment in infrastructure and skilled labor is also high on the wish lists of Austrian investors.
Erika Teoman-Brenner, trade adviser at the Austrian embassy, said that many critical points have been the same for years, even if the reforms in recent years have led to an overall improvement.
“We would like to see more concrete measures for long-known problems. We are convinced that Serbia will then continue to be an attractive location for Austrian companies. The availability of skilled workers will significantly contribute to that,” said Teoman-Brenner.
She added that she was glad that Serbia had taken important steps to introduce a dual education system and that Austria was its partner in that, Danas reports.
