The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized an Interactive Session with H.E. Brigitte Oppinger-Walchshofer, Ambassador of Austria to India, Austrian Embassy, New Delhi on 3rd October 2018 in the Chamber premises.

Mr. Deb A. Mukherjee, Senior Vice President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry formally welcomed the Ambassador. Mr. Abraham Stephanos, Vice President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Mr. Subhodip Ghosh, Director General, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other senior dignitaries from the Chamber were also present in the programme.

The objective of the session was to explore Bilateral Business Opportunities with Austria.

H.E. Brigitte Oppinger-Walchshofer, during the session, mentioned that Austria is landlocked economy and is very well known for culture. Austria is a country synonymous with culture and traditions. The Ambassador highlighted Austria as Innovation leader. Her Excellency also mentioned that the industry of Austria is completely export driven. Mostly the export is to EU followed by USA and Asia, majorly China.

Her Excellency stated that Austria is a highly developed industrialized country with an important service sector. The most important industries are mechanical engineering and steel construction, chemicals and vehicle manufacturing. In the field of Agriculture, Austria is witnessing a strong trend towards organic farming. She also highlighted the Electronics and Human Resources sectors as potential sectors.

The Ambassador emphasized that Tourism is an essential pillar of the Austrian economy. Austria is a mountainous country with one of the largest natural land reserves in central Europe.

Her Excellency conveyed that the trade between Austria and India has to be improved. She also mentioned that Austrian enterprises may be interested to do trade with West Bengal in the realm of Electronics Clusters.

The Ambassador shared her perspectives on the Transport sector of Austria, especially the public transport (tram, metro, bus and city bus). She mentioned that Austria has one of the most highly developed transport networks in the European Union with a dense bus and rail network criss-crossing the country. Especially the federal capital Vienna has an excellent public transport infrastructure. A single ticket format is possible for integrated transport system. This makes the facility cheaper incentivising the citizens to avail the service.

She emphasized that renewable energies are of major importance in Austria. Austrian energy comes from hydroelectric power and biomass. She also mentioned that Austrian companies are leading players in the global waste management industry. One of the latest trends in the waste- to-energy area is biological treatment, where energy is generated from biomass such as food and slaughterhouse waste.

The forum included a very vibrant interactive session with the Chamber invitees.