Dr. Martin Bartenstein Federal Minister, Federal Ministry for Economics and Labour of the Republic of Austria
Born: on 3 June 1953 Status: married to Ilse Bartenstein since 1983, five children, one girl and four boys in the age of 14 - 22
In the course of his studies, he earned his Ph.D. in chemical sciences in 1978 at the University of Graz.
From 1978 to 1994 Martin Bartenstein held different executive positions in the pharmaceutical industry including being the CEO for several years in a family owned group of pharmaceutical companies based in Austria and Hungary.
His political career started in 1991 as a member of parliament and the spokesman on industry, later also energy and environment of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP).
From 1992 Martin Bartenstein has been Deputy Chairman of the ÖVP in the state of Styria.
From 1994 to 1995, he was State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Public Economy and Transport.
Martin Bartenstein was appointed Federal Minister for the Environment in May 1995, and Federal Minister for Environment, Youth and Family Affairs in March 1996.
In February 2000, he took office as Federal Minister of Economics and Labour.
In his function as Federal Minister for the Environment, Martin Bartenstein chaired numerous international conferences, for example, the 1995 conference on the Montreal Protocol held in Vienna where the Protocol was finally adopted.
At the following Climate Protection Conference held in Buenos Aires in 1998, he was the EU’s chief negotiator in his function as Council president.
Since 2002, Martin Bartenstein has co-chaired the Investment Compact conference initiated by the OECD within the framework of the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe.
He is a permanent member of the OECD Roundtable for Sustainable Development.
Since 13 December 2005, Martin Bartenstein has been vice-chairman of the WTO Ministerial Conference.
From 1988 to 1992, Martin Bartenstein was chairman of the Children’s Cancer Aid of Styria and since 1993, he has chaired the Austrian Children’s Cancer Aid.
Mr. Bartenstein has been president of the Austrian Basketball Federation (ÖBV) since 2002.
