The roundtable, held on Monday, brought together managers and business representatives from Bulgaria with representatives of the Austrian Business Agency, the Vienna Stock Exchange, Erste Group, TPA Horwath Bulgaria and Wolf Theiss.

Among the participants were Dr. Michael Angerer, Commercial Counselor at the Austrian Embassy to Bulgaria, Peter Löschl, Director CEE at the Austrian Business Agency, Christian Mikosch and Richard Clegg of Wolf Theiss, Thomas Haneder, Managing Director, TPA Horwath Bulgaria and Martin Hinteregger, Managing Director, Erste Group.

Peter Löschl underlined some of the main advantages of doing business in Austria, such as the country's moderate taxation on profits, its strategic location with ideal access to other EU markets, and the excellent infrastructure. The latest data shows that there are about 300 Central and Eastern European companies with headquarters in Austria. According to international data, the country is second in the world in labor productiveness and in the top 10 globally in terms of business-oriented education. For 2009, 2.73 % of Austria’s GDP was invested in research and development activities, and 29.6 % of the country’s GDP is generated by the production sectors.

“In the last years, foreign investment in Austria and other Western European countries became more and more important. Wolf Theiss are working towards connecting Bulgarian and Austrian partners to develop successful business in both countries. One of the benefits in establishing business in Austria for Bulgarian companies is that the Austrian legal system is similar to the Bulgarian legal system,” said Christian Mikosch, Equity Partner, Wolf Theiss Vienna.

The managing Director of Erste Group Martin Hinteregger gave details to the participants in the roundtable on the steps companies need to take in order make a successful IPO and the options for financing through private equity. “Private equity investment is gaining popularity among Bulgarian business as a source of capital as it provides capital and financial knowledge. The most active private equity investors in Bulgaria currently are regional shops from Greece and Austria. This type of investment in Bulgaria is expected to expand in the next few years”, Mr. Hinteregger said.

At the event the Vienna Stock Exchange was also represented emphasizing the advantages for its issuers. They particularly benefit from the great international visibility at the Vienna Stock Exchange due to the high number of international institutional investors – especially from the US and UK – as well as international trading members that account for the comparably high liquidity of the Austrian market. Besides a listing in Euro, the Vienna Stock Exchange also offers an attractive price structure and tailor-made services for its issuers.

Pictures from the event can be viewed here: http://www.wolftheisslawclub.bg/en/gallery.html?event_id=25