WK election 2025

Jürgen Mandl: “Of course there is room for improvement”

WK President Jürgen Mandl in his business. Bakery machines have been produced there for 70 years and then sold in almost 50 countries.

(Bild: Evelyn Hronek)

The Chamber of Commerce elections will take place on March 12 and 13. In this interview, Chamber President Jürgen Mandl talks about his relationship with politics, the Chamber and the Carinthian economy.

The current President of the Carinthian Chamber of Commerce, Jürgen Mandl, is Managing Director of Otto Mandl GmbH in the private sector. The Klagenfurt-based company has been selling bakery machines with a focus on Kornspitz, hamburgers and hot dogs in almost 50 countries for almost 70 years. In the Chamber of Commerce elections, the chairman of the Carinthian Business Association is standing as the top candidate for the "Carinthian Economy - Jürgen Mandl" list.

"Krone": Let's talk about your work in the Chamber of Commerce. Why the Chamber of Commerce and not politics? They are related fields.
Jürgen Mandl: I am an entrepreneur with heart and soul and the representation of interests is very close to everyday business life. I never wanted to give up my company for political activities.

Are there also experiences from your entrepreneurial activities that help you directly in your work at the Chamber of Commerce?
We have these everyday issues that also affect thousands of other companies. Overall, we all want to become more competitive and earn money again, because that is the basis for innovation and investment.

Now it looks like the ÖVP will make it back into the federal government. In Carinthia, the ÖVP is also part of the provincial government. The Wirtschaftsbund is a sub-organization, a front organization. How does your role as President of the Chamber of Commerce, as a social partner, work and how should it possibly improve?
Our work in the Wirtschaftsbund is exclusively shaped by the economic environment, by everyday life in the companies. Normally, of course, this is very, very different from political activity. You have to go toe-to-toe, even with your own party. A company is created from an idea, grows and hires employees. All of these things generate tax revenue. And that is the basis for many other things to happen. And we sometimes feel that we are not taken seriously enough. We are still an extremely export-oriented location that thrives on being globally competitive. Not only the economy, but also exports are declining. That is already an issue: what do I invest where?

Now you have mentioned two things, firstly attractiveness and competitiveness and then local investment. What else do you think the Carinthian economy needs?
Confidence, courage - attributes that are fundamentally linked to entrepreneurship. I invest because I am convinced that the location here is okay, that I can ultimately earn back my investment. Demography is a big problem. We need a certain level of immigration. Our high-tech companies need highly qualified employees.

Is the structure of the Carinthian economy fundamentally fit for the future, or should we perhaps focus more on other sectors?
You can of course touch on certain things when it comes to funding issues, but in principle we need more competitiveness. Then we will also have the necessary financial resources. We simply have a lot of topics coming up at the same time, and artificial intelligence is taking over very quickly. You have to react quickly and invest a lot of money.

The Koralm Railway is coming this year. There are discussions about whether it could also be a threat to Carinthia's economy. Perhaps the workers will come to us, perhaps they will go to Styria. How do you see the issue and is Carinthia ready for it?
I say we are 100 percent ready for it and I always see it as an opportunity. Rail axes have always been growth axes. With Area South, we have backed this, with the two chambers of commerce. It's about generating attention and creating common ground. Of course there is a certain amount of competition with Styria, of course there is still a lot to do.

You have been President of the Chamber of Commerce for a relatively long time. What works well in the Carinthian Chamber of Commerce and what could possibly be improved?
Well, it's like a company. The presumption that everything is perfect will never be true. You will always have issues that simply need to be significantly improved. And it's the same in our company. When I arrived, I said that we need to be much more efficient, much more modern. Approval and requests are increasing significantly. We are the only ones who also ask: Dear customer, dear entrepreneur, are you satisfied? Only if someone tells me that something is not working can you improve it.

There are suggestions from other business groups that the chamber should be streamlined. How do you see this? Are the resources being used efficiently? 
 It's a bit difficult for you to ask me that. But of course there is still room for improvement. We will have to discuss this after the election.

On the subject of efficiency: would it be an issue for you to look at the multiple memberships of companies in different sectors?
I think it's an ongoing issue that we have to look at again and again: Where can we be more efficient and where can we also give something back to companies here, no question. I was and still am a person who seeks consensus, and I have always done so.

In terms of costs, there is one demand that is supported by all political groups: the abolition of the ORF household levy for companies. What is your perspective on this?
Don't let anyone misunderstand me: I am not in favor of abolishing Austrian broadcasting. Quite the opposite. But now everyone is already paying a household fee privately, and then on top of that in the company. This multiple burden is unacceptable. This must be changed quickly, because in Carinthia you not only pay the household fee, but also a provincial fee and that costs around 500 euros. That is not too little.

Now the Chamber of Commerce elections are just around the corner. Like the other social partners, the Chamber of Commerce is also struggling with a low voter turnout. What could be the reason for this and what would you like to see?
We don't need to dream of a four or five in front. A voter turnout of over 30 percent would do us good, for a broad consensus. The problem lies in the structure of our company: in trade and commerce, the rate is sometimes 50 percent. But of course we have added many professional groups that have no connection to the chamber. Nurses in particular, who of course hardly ever vote because they only live here for a certain period of time.

Why should an entrepreneur support the Wirtschaftsbund again this time and cast their vote?
Because I hope that we have convinced people and done a good job. And not me personally, but the specialist groups - that's where the actual election takes place. They have done a very, very good job on the individual topics and have always been there for the members.