Trade adds to Austria's flourishing ties with Korea
Austrian Ambassador to Korea Michael Schwarzinger delivers a speech during a reception to celebrate the Austrian National Day at the JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul hotel in eastern Seoul, Oct. 25. / Korea Times photo by Yi Whan-woo
By Yi Whan-woo
With a territory slightly smaller than South Korea’s, Austria has many features that attract the public here depending on their interests.
It is heralded as the “capital of classical music,” is one of Europe’s favorite winter sports destinations with epic alpine slopes, has rich historical sites that helped draw a record 320,000 Korean tourists in 2018, has over 20 Nobel laureates, is home for the Vienna Convention — the bedrock of a set of customary international laws — and so on.
During a reception last week to celebrate Austrian National Day, Austrian Ambassador to Korea Michael Schwarzinger addressed another trait worth paying attention to — economic cooperation.
The trade volume between the two countries amounted to a record $2.9 billion last year, setting a milestone in their diplomatic relations which began in 1963.
“Our relations are not only expressed in numbers but they are characterized by mutual and long-term appreciation, business and cooperation,” Ambassador Schwarzinger said in his speech at the JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul hotel in eastern Seoul, Oct. 25.
He pointed out Austrian companies in Korea invested over 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) and hire more than 3,000 employees.
Among the companies are Raiffeisen Bank International, metallurgical product supplier Plansee Group, circuit board manufacturer Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik (AT&S), semi-finished metal components manufacturer ASSAB Steels, Austrian Airlines, automotive consulting firm AVL and ropeway manufacturer Doppelmayr Garaventa Group.
Austrian Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon discussed how the two countries can capitalize on the ever-growing economic ties and expand them to research and development, during Kurz’s visit to Korea in February.
In relation to the Vienna Convention, Schwarzinger pointed out this year marks the anniversaries of the 1969 Law of the Treaties and the establishment of the Vienna International Centre, a complex of U.N. offices, in 1979.
The ambassador congratulated Korea for its recent activities on multilateral diplomacy, such as hosting the 1st International Conference on Action with Women and Peace in July, being elected to its fifth term on the U.N. Human Rights Council in October, and being named to host the 2020 P4G Summit on climate change and the 2021 U.N. Peacekeeping Ministerial Conference.
“Both Korea and Austria support an effective multilateral system with the United Nations at its core,” Schwarzinger said.
He also underlined Austria’s support for the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
The reception drew ambassadors and other members of the diplomatic corps, executives from Austrian firms and Seoul’s foreign ministry officials.
In his congratulatory speech, Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs Kang Jeong-sik of the foreign ministry lauded Austria as “a nation beloved by the rest of the world for its natural beauty, rich culture and flourishing arts.”
Kang said the bilateral ties are not only based on political and economic interests but also on “the deep-seated mutual understanding and friendship among the people.”
“Considering the warm friendship and solidarity we have cultivated and nurtured together so far, I firmly believe in a bright future for our relationship,” he said.
Austrian National Day is celebrated every Oct. 26. It honors the Austrian parliament passing the constitutional law on permanent neutrality in 1955, in accordance with the State Treaty that ended the Allied forces occupation after World War II.