Austria joined the European Union in January 1995. With the EU’s enlargement in May 2004, Austria’s capital, Vienna, is now located in the centre of the new Europe and thus, of a market of more than 500 million people.Due to its geographic location, Vienna has close business ties to the growth markets in Central and Eastern Europe.

More than 300 international corporations have set up their Eastern European headquarters in the Vienna Region. Major international organisations, such as the UN, UNIDO, IAEA and OPEC, are based in this city and, finally, Vienna is the most popular conference city world-wide.