Logistics is a strong motor with weak points for Salzburg’s economy

A current study of the Industriewissenschaftliches Institut (IWI) about the significance of logistics for the domestic economy is focused on the province of Salzburg. The results are based on polls in leading companies, forming the core of Salzburg’s economy and generate added value far beyond their company limits.
The main results of the study
The supra-regional accessibility of Salzburg is very good thanks to the location advantages and the good access to high-ranking transport networks.
• Every employee of the Austrian logistics industry secures up to 3.50 jobs.
• Every euro of sales of a domestic logistics company ensures macroeconomically up to EUR 3.88 in turnover.
• Every euro of value added in the logistics industry secures up to EUR
4.11 in added value in the Austrian industry.
“The calculated multipliers clearly show the importance and added value of logistics for our operations and the business location. The logistics industry secures a great number of jobs in Salzburg. Each euro invested comes back as added value several times and strengthens the business location also in times of economic difficulty,” says Alexander Friesz, vice president of the Zentralverband Spedition & Logistik (Austrian association of forwarding & logistics) and CEO of the Lagermax forwarding group.
More than 90 per cent of the polled leading companies are convinced that logistics will continue to gain in overall economic significance.
For a quarter of respondents, the share of logistics in the company’s success is 30 per cent or more.
Provincial governor Dr. Wilfried Haslauer is certain: “This economic baseline study, supported also by the government of Salzburg, very clearly shows the outstanding economic importance of the logistics sector. I want to meet the requirements of our leading companies and the logistics industry, to improve the necessary framework even further, taking into respect our financial possibilities and environmental and transport policy conditions”.
Potential for improvements
The study also shows that a number of hurdles still has to be eliminated. Specifically, Salzburg’s leading companies want solutions for the following infrastructural projects:
• Availability of logistics space.
• Continuous expansion of congested A8-motorway Munich Salzburg to multiple tracks.
• Traffic solution for Salzburg Nord.
• Lack of bridges over the Salzach-river (in Bavaria there are 72 bridges, in Salzburg only 2, of which one in Oberndorf with a maximum load of 3.5 tonnes).
• Expansion of Westautobahn motorway, which is a bottleneck near Salzburg.
• Better accessibility of the Pinzgau region.
• Air traffic: more connections to international airports.
• Development of the high-level railway project (TEN): gaps in Salzburg, such as the Seekirchen tunneling.
• Expansion of the Westbahn railway route.
• Expansion/modernisation of the Tauern corridor for the railway.
• Improvements in the area of missing connecting railways.
• Implementation of cross-border projects (Munich-Mühldorf- Freilassing and Salzburg)
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