AUSTRIA, May 15 - During the kick-off of the 2022 Austrian Leadership Programme (ALPS), the Secretary-General for Foreign Affairs, Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, welcomed 22 high-ranking leaders from the Western Balkan countries in the Foreign Ministry. The topic of this year’s programme, which is being held for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, is “Green Technologies”.

ALPS already has numerous success stories on the books, with participants building new partnerships in many different fields. The goal of ALPS is to show off new aspects of Austria to clever minds – Austria is a strong, export-oriented high-tech country,

said Secretary-General Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal during the kick-off of the ALPS programme.

During this year’s session, held from 15-19 May 2022 in Vienna and Carinthia, the 22 participants from the six Western Balkan countries will have the opportunity to learn about leading Austrian companies in the energy and high-tech sector – like Wien Energie, Infineon AG and KELAG AG – and to meet important representatives from the fields of politics, business, industry and culture.

Our strong relationships with South-East Europe have been and remain an important pillar of Austrian foreign policy, and that regional focus is also reflected in this year’s ALPS event. We hope the contacts people make during the week-long course will further strengthen the close relations between Austria and South-East Europe in the coming decades as well,

said Secretary-General Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, emphasising the geopolitical significance of ALPS.

With the goal of creating a stable international network that will help Austria advance its interests, the Foreign Ministry’s Department for Business Services has organised the international “ALPS” visit programme since 2016, with support from the Austrian Economic Chamber’s Advantage Austria and the Federation of Austrian Industry. Several times a year, the Foreign Ministry invites a group of young international leaders from non-EU countries to present Austria as a modern, competitive location for business and innovation that has a strong foothold in Central and Eastern Europe, and as an international actor and cultural nation.

ALPS is not the Foreign Ministry’s only initiative for international networking of Austrian businesspeople. Through the ReFocus Austria initiative, which is a central component of the Austrian government’s economic comeback plan for economic recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Foreign Ministry – together with the Foreign Trade Department of the Austrian Economic Chamber, the Austrian National Tourist Board and other federal ministries – organises tailored worldwide events to promote the Austrian export economy and Austria as a business location.