Foreign Trade and Sustainability in Austria

Economic development and the prosperity of society are closely linked to trade and foreign trade. This is particularly true for a small open economy like Austria. The importance of foreign trade for the Austrian economy, for job creation and for the participation of large parts of society in prosperity and quality of life is presented in this report. The challenges linked to this are also explored and lead over to the issues that receive little attention in the mainstream economy but are of great concern to many people. These include questions such as whether trade does not on balance destroy more jobs or contribute to lowering standards of job quality, food or the environment. Trade in goods is widely associated with negative environmental effects; how high they are is not generally known. In the economic literature it is a widely discussed topic. In this paper, the findings of the literature on these topics are compiled, reviewed and evaluated with regard to an external relations strategy.