BILATERAL RELATIONS WITH AUSTRIA

The Ambassador in Vienna is accredited to Austria on a resident basis while he is accredited on a non-resident basis to the Slovak Republic and the Republic of Slovenia.  South Africa has an Honorary Consul based in Bratislava as well as an Honorary Consul based in Ljubljana.

The Embassy primarily focuses on furthering the cordial bilateral relations that South Africa has with Austria, the Slovak Republic and the Republic of Slovenia. The Embassy enhances trade and investments as well as promotes tourism to South Africa as the Department of Trade and Industry as well as SA Tourism are not represented in the three countries of accreditation.

South Africa’s foreign policy is driven by its domestic issues; therefore the work done by the Embassy is in line with the aims of promoting health and education, creating jobs, alleviating poverty, developing rural areas and the combating of crime.

The Republic of Austria

Relations between South Africa and Austria date back to 1852 when Austria opened a Consulate in Cape Town. The Department of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Science, Research and Economy signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Scientific and Technological Cooperation in 2015.

Imports and exports between South Africa and Austria are on a healthy footing but there are many opportunities to increase bilateral trade as well as investment.

In 2019, bilateral trade between South Africa and Austria amounted to Euro 1180.9 million which is an increase of 26.1 % in comparison to 2018. South African exports amounted to Euro 572.5 million, an increase of 64.5 % and Austrian exports amounted to Euro 608.4 million, an increase of 3.4% compared to 2018. Iron ore still remains the biggest SA export product to Austria.

Trade statistics for the past five years:

2015
Total trade between South Africa and Austria - Euro 834.2 million
South African exports to Austria - Euro 346.1 million
Austrian exports to South Africa - Euro 488.1 million

2016
Total trade between South Africa and Austria - Euro 746.9 million
South African exports to Austria - Euro 311.6 million
Austrian exports to South Africa - Euro 435.3 million

2017
Total trade between South Africa and Austria - Euro 795.8 million
South African exports to Austria - Euro 368.8 million
Austrian exports to South Africa - Euro 427 million

2018
Total trade between South Africa and Austria - Euro 936.3 million
South African exports to Austria - Euro 348.2 million
Austrian exports to South Africa - Euro 588.1 million

2019
Total trade between SA and Austria – Euro1180.9 million
Exports from SA to Austria – Euro 572.5 million
Imports from Austria to SA – Euro 608.4 million

There are over 70 Austrian companies that have subsidiaries or agents in South Africa and the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKO) has a representative based in Johannesburg.

There are four South African companies that have invested in Austria.

SA Tourism is not represented in Austria; therefore the Embassy also focuses on promoting tourism to South Africa.  The number of visitors arriving in SA from Austria in 2019 is 30 376.