AUSTRIA, December 19 - On 20 December 2021, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg hosted the Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mathias Cormann. During his visit, Secretary-General Cormann presented the new OECD Economic Report for Austria at a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, Minister of Finance Magnus Brunner, and Minister of the Economy Margarete Schramböck.

The current OECD Economic Report for Austria discusses the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the domestic economy at length. Recommendations include continued support for economic sectors that are still suffering due to the pandemic like tourism and the hospitality industry. Secretary-General Cormann praised the previous measures taken by the government.

Austria’s decisive, effective response to the pandemic absorbed many of the negative effects on income and jobs. As soon as the current wave of the pandemic has ended, Austria’s economic recovery will once again see steady growth,

said OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann.

Strengthening Austria as a business location after the pandemic is a priority for the Foreign Ministry. With the economic initiative ReFocus Austria, more than 100 Austrian representations worldwide conduct events to support domestic businesses.

As part of the ReFocus Austria program, we are looking at repositioning Austria as an export market once again and creating forward-looking policies that allow us to come out of the pandemic as strong as possible,

said Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.  

The Austrian economy is recovering from the pandemic faster than anticipated. This is what OECD’s figures as well as reports by our economists show. We have already returned to pre-crisis levels in many sectors,

added Minister of Finance Magnus Brunner during the presentation of the OECD Country Report.

Since the coronavirus pandemic is the greatest roadblock to economic growth and to creating jobs, encouraging everyone to get vaccinated was another key point.

What is important now is to drive the vaccination rates higher. With booster shots, we can secure the stability of the location and jobs,

said Minister of the Economy Margarete Schramböck at the joint press conference.

The OECD Economic Report, which appears every two years, focusses on current developments in the economy and labour market of OECD member states. It also highlights other current topics such as digitalisation, climate neutrality, pensions, the labour market, gender equality, and tourism.