Austrian dairies do well in Middle East

The Arab world as a whole is an important export market for the Austrian economy and this goes too for the Austrian dairy sector, which had very good export figures last year.

With a 30% increase in exports of dairy products in the past year, the Austrian dairy industry has been able to present a very positive development in the Middle East. This was one of the subjects presented at the annual Arabisch-Österreichisches Wirtschaftsforum (Arab-Austrian Economic Forum), which the Austro-Arab Chamber of Commerce had organized in Vienna. The forum was attended by representatives of the Austrian foreign trade organisations and exporting companies, as well as representatives from 23 Middle Eastern countries.

Among the speakers was Johann Költringer, the managing director of VÖM, the Austrian Dairy Association Board. “Dairy products from Austria with an export volume of 33 millions was in 2013 the second most important sector in the agricultural and food exports to the Arab world next to the category fruit juices,” he notes. “The high demand and high purchasing power in some Arab countries signifies for our dairy industry an interesting export potential for our high-quality dairy products.”

To put the €33 million in perspective, Austria exported in 2013 goods to a total of around €2.9 billion to the Arab world. With an import to the value of around € 1.97 billion from the area, it left Austria with a profit of €922 million.