“More weight on logistics as a key industry”
Wolfram Senger-Weiss, President of the Austrian Forwarding and Logistics Association, once again draws attention to the central, but often underestimated role of logistics on the occasion of the current government negotiations: “The next federal government should put more weight to the key sector of logistics. Best by determination in the next government program. The competitiveness of domestic logistics is crucial for the export-oriented Austrian economy,” he said in a press release.
Wolfram Senger-Weiss sees urgent need for action when it comes to logistics space. A small country like Austria should plan nationwide and reserve space. Otherwise, the worst case scenario is transit, rather than value creation.
The role as a logistics location for the entire Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe must be strengthened and expanded in order to keep the domestic business location attractive and to create employment and growth in Austria. The topic of transport to Asia is a historic opportunity that should be exploited. Countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Hungary have long recognised the potential and would actively participate, and participate already.
As a visionary project and a unique opportunity for the domestic location, the Central Association of Forwarding & Logistics sees the extension of the Asia-Central Europe broad gauge railway to Austria and the construction of a terminal. In addition, the next federal government should step up its involvement in the new Silk Road Project (OBOR – One Belt One Road) in order to play an active part in shaping strategic advantages for our trading location.
The managing director of the Austian Forwarding and Logistics Association, Oliver Wagner, refers to the important role of the government, in particular the Ministry of Transport: “In general, planning, further developments and investments should be negotiated in a dialogue between the public sector and the stakeholders of the logistics industry. The umbrella brand for the logistics location Austria, which was commissioned by the Logistics Working Group in the Ministry of Transport, must be politically supported and implemented quickly. “
The 11,000 companies in the logistics industry directly employ 160,000 people and, according to a study by the Institute for Industrial Science (IWI), generate annual sales of EUR 34 billion.