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“This is urgently needed economic growth and it will create 29,000 additional jobs over the next 4 years,” not only at Microsoft itself, but also at local customers and partner companies.
“Our stated goal is to be one of the best countries in Europe in the field of digitization,” Kurz said, “because we know that our economy and our industry can only remain competitive if we are particularly well positioned in this area.”
There will be multiple data centers that will be secured against each other, Ritz explained, but the exact locations could not be disclosed for security reasons.
Microsoft does not receive a special tax incentive for the investment, Schramböck said. Microsoft would have the general subsidies available, such as the 14 percent investment premium for digital investments.
Of course, tax incentives will also be taken into account, Ritz said, “the decision of a data center region includes more than 35 factors, tax incentives are only part of them.” Proximity to metropolitan areas, skilled workers in the region, access to electricity and very good network connections are also important, but not least the needs of customers.
It is by far the largest investment Microsoft has made in Austria, Microsoft president Brad Smith said in a recorded video message. Smith is Microsoft’s Chief Legal Officer and No. 2 behind CEO Satya Nadella. The benefit for Austria is considerable, Smith said.
Consumers, businesses, and the public sector would immediately notice this at a higher rate, but it would also lower costs and increase safety. “We spend more than a billion dollars a year constantly improving our security technology. We have over 3,000 security specialists working for us. “