On September 15th and 16th, 2016, the Embassy hosted a consular conference for Austrian Honorary Consuls as well as the Heads of diplomatic offices and departments in the U.S. Over 40 participants heeded the Ambassador’s invitation to receive briefings on the latest news on Austro-American bilateral issues, actual consular matters, as well as to share experiences on their daily consular work. Besides providing the most up-to-date information on its ongoing economic, scientific and cultural efforts in the U.S., one of the Embassy’s main objectives in this two-day get together was to strengthen the country-wide consular network.  

The conference, which is held every three years, also covered updates by the head of the Americas of the Austrian foreign ministry, Robert Zischg, as well as from the U.S. Office of Foreign Missions and the Department of Homeland Security. Additionally, the Honorary Consuls were familiarized with the activities of the Austrian National Tourist Office, the Vienna Business Agency and Advantage Austria, the network of Austrian trade representatives.