Max Kloger

Tyrolean Federation of Industry has a new head

Max Kloger (right) is the new President of IV Tirol. His predecessor Christoph Swarovski once again lashed out at politics.

(Bild: IV Tirol / Oss)

The general meeting of the Tyrolean Federation of Industry elected a new head on Tuesday. Max Kloger will be at the helm for the next four years. In his closing speech, the previous head Christoph Swarovski lashed out against politics. 

There are exactly 428 industrial companies in Tyrol. The direct, indirect and induced regional gross value added amounts to 13.7 billion euros. With a 38.9 percent share of total gross value added, industry is the number one economic driver. In the previous year, goods worth 14.28 billion euros were produced (+13.77% compared to 2022). These and other figures were presented by the Federation of Austrian Industries (IV) on Tuesday.

The reason for this: the new president for the next four years was elected at the general meeting. Prior to this, the previous head Christoph Swarovski took stock.

Exploding wage costs, high energy prices, especially in comparison to the USA, labor shortages, uncontrolled immigration and a European Union that prefers to harass companies with ever new regulations and laws rather than support them in global competition are putting industry under great pressure.

Christoph Swarovski

Bild: Christian Forcher

Outgoing President lashed out at politicians
He did not mince his words and also lashed out at politicians. "Although I have always been committed to improving competitiveness, we have to admit that Europe has fallen behind and that we are in danger of losing ground to the United States and Asia. Exploding labor costs, high energy prices, especially compared to the US, labor shortages, uncontrolled immigration and a European Union that prefers to harass companies with ever new regulations and laws rather than support them in global competition are putting industry under severe pressure."

We have set ourselves the goal of Tyrol, which is currently in 30th place, becoming one of the top 20 industrial regions in Europe by 2030

Max Kloger

Bild: Die Fotografen Charly Lair

32-hour week a thorn in the side, Max Kloger new president
The IV has always tried to counteract the downward trend. "However, this is only of limited use if some parties prefer to fuel the anti-entrepreneurial mood even further with unrealistic demands, such as the statutory reduction of working hours to 32 hours with full wage compensation," says Swarovski.

Max Kloger, Managing Director of Tiroler Rohre GmbH, was elected as the new President. He is supported by Eduard Fröschl, Holger König, Simon Meinschad, Gabriele Punz-Praxmarer and Karlheinz Wex. "We have set ourselves the goal of Tyrol, which is currently in 30th place, becoming one of the top 20 industrial regions in Europe by 2030," says Kloger.