iconannual 2015 - The European Business and Investment Magazine

Wien Holding
Foreword
Quality of Life
Komm.-Rat Peter Hanke
Managing Director Wien Holding
Nowadays, having an idea isn´t enough
anymore. You need partners to promote
and fulfill your vision. For the past eleven
years, iconvienna has offered the
much-needed assistance to facilitate projects
between Austrian and international companies.
Through offering a high-level networking platform,
it brought together company representatives
and decision makers enabling business
and social contacts as well as an exchange of
experience. By doing so, iconvienna also reinforces
Vienna´s position as a desirable business
location by strengthening its reputation around
the world.
As a municipal company, our main goal is to
implement projects that add value to the economy
and the quality of life of the population in Vienna.
Wien Holding stands for future-oriented,
sustainable projects such as the Twin City Liner
– two catamarans connecting Vienna with the
Slovakian capital Bratislava – , the development
of the Neu Marx site into a centre for media, research
and technology or the expansion of the
port of Vienna into one of the most efficient
economic hubs on any inland European waterway.
But Vienna is also a leading “smart city”.
In 2014, for the second time in a row, Boyd Cohens
Smart City Index ranked Vienna number
three of the smartest cities in the world. Numerous
new technologies were developed here and
have already been put in practice. Developing
new strategies and solutions in the field of urban
and environmental technologies and marketing
them internationally is the main task of
the Wien Holding-company tina vienna urban
technologies & strategies. Business networking
platforms such as iconvienna are essential for
promoting new projects and achievements for
they allow the transfer of knowledge and the
exchange of experiences between cities.
We use our projects and companies to
boost economic growth, secure jobs, improve
infrastructure and raise the quality of life of
the population in Vienna. However, all these
things require an excellent political and economic
framework not just for the benefit of local
companies but also for international companies
which settle in Vienna. We try to be the driving
force that takes initiative and lays the groundwork
for others while also making sure that development
corresponds to urban planning and
strategic economic goals. To do so, it is helpful
to be able to access the knowledge of experts
who are part of the iconvienna-network.
Vienna is a strong, internationally attractive
location. It´s central position in the heart of Europe,
its close economic ties and proximity to the
growth market in Central and Eastern Europe
make it an ideal business location and a strong
competitor among the world´s cities. To secure
this position for the future, we will continue to
support inconvienna in its aim of promoting economic
and social integration in Europe so that in
fact we do “make contacts to contracts”.
Foto: Barbara Nidetzky
The European Business and Investment Magazine iconannual 13