Satisfied citizens, strong economy
For years, Vienna has been “the world’s most liveable city”, or at best towards the top of this list. The nation is regarded as among the countries of the world that are home to the wealthiest and also the happiest people: 16th on the global GDP (PPP) per capita list, and 11th among the list of countries with the happiest residents. It's also the most important destination for the emigration of Serbian citizens. All of this tells us the Austrians must be doing something right!
The Austrian economy is defined as socially responsible market economy, with public and private companies intertwining. Their state is really a strong economic factor: basic activities were nationalized following the end of World War II. There is also a strong Mittelstand, that's, as in Germany, a stratum of small , medium-sized enterprises of domestic origin that “pushes” their own economy – not expecting an excessive amount of from direct foreign investment. When they come, they are welcome. All of this makes Austria one of the most prosperous and civilized world in Europe.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY = SATISFIED CITIZENS = STRONG ECONOMY
So, Austria includes a well-developed economy thanks to the large structure of their market, a structure reflected within the high living standard of its inhabitants. After the initial social revolution after 1945, a lot of the industry was nationalized again within the 1980s, although privatization reduced the size of their state part of the economy to a level similar to other European economies. Labour movements are particularly strong in Austria and have a strong affect on the labour policy – these were strong soon after The second world war when the culture of subsidized housing has been around since Vienna throughout the “Rotes Wien” or Red Vienna. Since joining the European Union in 1995, Austria has implemented profound structural reforms, like the liberalization of telecommunications, energy and tobacco, the privatization of banks, the steel and oil industries. This was accompanied by mergers of domestic companies with foreign ones, in sectors such as food, trade, construction, banking, steel, oil, tobacco and telecommunications. But, this year, it had among the lowest unemployment rates within the entire Europe, around 4.3%, thanks to its socially responsible labour policy. The insurance policy of neutrality has also repaid many times over, because Austria, like Finland, Sweden or Switzerland, happens to be a “welcome guest” everywhere, both politically and economically.
OPEN THE EASTERN GATE!
The thing that traditionally “pulled” but also degraded the Austrian economy, depending on the situation in theor northern neighbour, Germany, is the strong connection between the Austrian and German economy. Over time, Austrian economy connected well with Italy and its economy, these types of its border position, Austria maintained strong trade ties with its neighbouring, socialist countries for example Yugoslavia, traditionally open to the West, but additionally Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
Even when changes happened within the East, Austria was the first to “begin the wagon” and take preferential positions from Gdansk to Gevgelija. To put it simply, even in the past, the Habsburg Empire had possessions in those countries, so the Austrians knew the mentality very well and weren't afraid, while other Westerners hesitated. Thus, the collapse of European socialism brought Austria to a new position of a “pioneer” along with a “leader” within the European East. An old proverb in the 1700s states that “Europe ends after Vienna”, and the Austrians did perfectly in “both worlds”.
TOURISM Like a SPECIAL TRUMP CARD – A 10%-GDP TRUMP CARD
In addition to trade, production and services, good wine, beer, chocolate and cheeses, Austria is a world's tourist superpower. Austrian territory is a frequent route for travellers since ancient times. Using its Central European location, common borders with 8 countries (Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland and Liechtenstein), Austria has a long tradition of welcoming tourists. As a small country (8.2 million inhabitants), Austria welcomes about 19 million foreign visitors each year, which ranks it one of the 10 most widely used destinations on the planet. Throughout history, the tourist flow was interrupted during the two world wars, after which through the financial crisis of the 1920s. Since the mid-1970s, the tourism industry has already established to face new challenges for example excessive protectionism and political and telecomutting saves gas. Direct revenues in the tourism sector taken into account 9.8% of GDP and always hover around 10%. Tourism in Austria is presented as a combination of culture, history, nature, sports and business. Because of the already mentioned neutrality, Austria has become a centre of international political meetings and conventions.
Austria is really a haven for winter sports fans: more than 800 resorts offer 22,000 km of ski trails and 16,000 km of cross-country trails. Austria hosted the Winter Olympics twice, making the town of Innsbruck the centre of white sports. Winter tourism is an extremely important part of the Austrian economy. The large influx of German visitors makes this sector largely dependent on the German economy, although recently there have been changes that attempt to prevent tourism from with respect to the German economy. These changes are turning into the development of ski resorts for example Arlberg or Kitzbühel, which receive increasingly more guests from Eastern Europe, Russia and the US.
All in most, it was said that other countries wage wars, while the happy Austria gets everything through marriage. And dances towards the waltz beat. Austria was nicknamed “Felix Austria”, and even today, I see, the citizens of this country are still happy.
By Zikica Milosevi'c
