Economic Strategy Styria

The strategic objectives are bundled into five core strategies and implemented with three performance functions. These objectives form the framework for the work of the Ministry of Economic Affairs in regard to short and medium-term planning and operative programmes and also provide orientation for external key performers and players who contribute to economic and location development.

Core strategy 1: Location development and location management
The orientation of Styrian location development and location management towards the guiding markets of mobility, green tech and health tech as well as technological core competences are to be further implemented in an energetic manner; only then will Styria be recognised internationally.

Core strategy 2: Innovations and R&D promotion
For the domestic economy it is crucial to integrate additional companies in the innovation process and expand the spectrum of innovative services. Styria is to be especially successful in implementing regional know-how in value creation. The R&D ratio of 4.8% is a top rate among European countries and provides an excellent basis.

Core strategy 3: Entrepreneurship & Growth of young companies
Foundations and prospering young companies ensure progress and growth. These companies stand for creativity, willingness to perform and the renewal of the economic structure. For Styria, it will be crucial to increase foundation dynamics and growth capabilities for young companies. Ideal framework conditions are to be created that orient themselves according to international standards. Styria thereby supports the ambitious objective to make Austria the top founder country in Europe.

Core strategy 4: Qualification & human potential
A qualified work force is one of the most important resources in a knowledge-focused production and service society. The availability of qualified employees is decisive for the performance capability of the economy. Today, the demand for specialists already poses a challenge and will further intensify in the coming years due to demographic developments and social value changes. Strengthening human potential is therefore crucial.

Core strategy 5: Internationalisation of companies and location
The export of goods and services secures employment, income and pros-perity for Styria. For the future of Styria, it is tremendously important to internationalise the location on a large scale, which requires respective activities within the state for promoting export and the expansion of the worldwide network.

Mobility
The automotive sector has by now become a traditional Styrian strength, a fact manifested in the large number of employees and high export volume. Additional growth opportunities exist in the competence fields of “rail systems” and “aerospace”. Future growth potential espe-cially exists for manufacturing high-value niche products. Besides auton-omous driving, lightweight construction, increasing electronics and IT in vehicles, eco-friendly innovations and “smart production”, advanced by digitisation are also technological drivers. The sector remains enormous-ly important as a driver of innovation.

Green-Tech
Efficient and sustainable usage of natural resources is be-coming increasingly important. Styria is currently extremely competitive in the underlying technological fields. These areas exhibit a medium to long-term growth perspective through investments in technology devel-opment. Besides “green energy" and “green resources”, the emphasis is also on “green building”. The guiding theme of green tech also incorpo-rates timber and its value chain as a renewable resource ‒ which is espe-cially important for Styria with its abundance of forests.

Health-Tech
Innovations related to health and food exhibit high growth and employment potential, not least due to demographic processes. Styria has positioned itself within the promising field of health technolo-gy with three strategic corridors in engineering and bio-sciences. The ob-jective for the foodstuffs industry is the bundling of Styrian competences in innovative food processing, food technology, quality and safety and food-specific services.