VIENNA, (Report: Muhammad Amir Siddique) __ A virtual meeting on Pak-Austria bilateral trade and Investment was held on 23 April, 2025. His Excellency Ambassador of Pakistan to Vienna led the Pakistani delegation, which comprised of Mr. Nasir Hamid, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Mr. Muhammad Ayub, Additional Secretray, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and senior officers from SIFC, Economic Affairs Division, Ministry of Information Technology and Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis.
Ms. Elisabeth Weissenbock, Head of the Directorate for Foreign Economic Relations Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy led the Austrian delegation. She was accompanied by senior officials from several departments including Austrian Ministry of Finance, Federal Economic Chamber, Austrian Business Agency.
The two sides noted the increase of 31.5% in Pak-Austria bilateral trade in 2024 as compared to 2023. The two sides identified ways and means to further enhance bilateral trade with a focus on non-traditional products and services.
The two sides also identified specific investment opportunities and agreed to further enhance bilateral investment in specific fields. The two sides also agreed to explore possibility of utilizing multilateral financing mechanisms to fund bilateral projects.
Two sides agreed to further enhance labour mobility particularly in IT, healthcare, life sciences and related fields. It was noted that in year 2024 Austria issued 84 Red-White-Red cards to Pakistani professionals working in different fields in Austria including Information Technology.
The two sides also agreed to continue collaboration for further enhancement of bilateral trade and investment.