Cercle International Diplomatique et Consulaire asbl
Centre Européen de Diplomatie Economique
In collaboration with
FEDRA
Federation of Regional Actors in Europe
2015
DEA Mission Luxembourg – 25th-26th November 2015
Diplomacy – Economy – Academia
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CIDIC is pleased to host
the DEA Days
on 25th-26th November 2015 in Luxembourg
Under the High Patronage of HRH Princess Alexandre of Belgium
With the support of the Foreign Affairs Federal Public Service
With the support of the European Commission’s DG Growth
In collaboration with:
His Excellency Mr. Jacques Welfring, Luxembourg’s Ambassador in Belgium, Mr.
Thomas Antoine, Belgium’s Ambassador in Luxembourg, Mrs Kris Dejonckheere,
UNICA General Secretary, Mr. Gunter Gaublomme, BDA/VUB Director, Mr. JeanPhilippe Mergen, BECI Director, the Foreign Affairs Minister for Luxembourg, the
Minister of Economy for Luxembourg, Luxembourg’s Chamber of Commerce, the
Federation of Luxembourg Businesses FEDIL, the International Bank of
Luxembourg BIL, FIT, VOKA and FEDRA.
During the DEA Days, delegates from all around Belgium will gather in Luxembourg to
meet their counterparts, driven by the same desire for learning and cooperation and to set
up new joint initiatives in order to boost business. They will also have the opportunity to
listen to prominent speakers and to (re) discover this region, rich in history and culture.
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CIDIC
CIDIC was founded in 2010 in order to respond to the concerns of several diplomats who
felt greater effectiveness was needed in establishing economic and academic links which
are playing a growing role in their work.
The International Diplomatic and Consular Society (CIDIC) targets three
complementary fields at the same time: diplomacy, the economy / business and the
academic world.
Economic Diplomacy invests diplomatic and consular representations with the task of
supporting the government’s effort to boost the economy by acting as an interface between
private national operators and those of selected countries in order to find new markets for
industrial products and for services, and to attract foreign direct investment.
The CIDIC facilitates meetings between the diplomatic, consular and academic worlds
as well as with business men and women and entrepreneurs, in order to establish beneficial
relationships in an informal way. The CIDIC fosters mutual interests between decisionmakers through targeted events, conferences and receptions.
The European Union’s rotating presidencies provide the opportunity for foreign
embassies and Belgium businesses operating globally to make contact. For this reason,
each semester, the CIDIC’s board of directors offers the honorary presidency of the Society
to the ambassador of the country acting as President of the European Council and invites
a non-european country to this important event, as well as ambassadors interested in the
current diplomatic and economic context.
This drive is now called ‘Economic and Academic Diplomacy’, DEA.
The permanent honorary presidency of the CIDIC is occupied by HRH
Princess Alexandre of Belgium.
www.cidic.be
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A BRIEF WORD ON LUXEMBOURG
National motto: Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn (‘Luxembourgish, we want to remain
as we are’)
Official languages: Luxembourgish, French and German
Capital: Luxembourg
Grand Duke: Henri 1st
Prime Minister: Xavier Bettel
Area: 2,586 km2
Population: 530,000 inhabitants, with 100,390 in the capital
Currency: euro
Time zone: UTC + 1 (+2 in summer)
Internet domain: .lu
Calling code: +352
Economy
Located at the heart of Europe, Luxembourg is the ideal way into the European market
which has more than 500 million consumers. Thanks to its political and social stability,
its highly skilled and multilingual workforce, its cutting edge infrastructure, its excellent
links to markets as well as it supportive legal and fiscal framework, Luxembourg offers
peerless opportunities and advantages for business in Europe.
Luxembourg’s government has always adopted a proactive economic development
approach, making Luxembourg a first rate international financial centre and business
location.
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The government has recently been targeting emerging and innovative activities based on
cutting edge technologies such as ICT, e-commerce, the media, car manufacturing,
materials, plastics, logistics along with environmental and health technologies.
Today, the outcomes of this approach are undeniable: Luxembourg hosts some of the best
performing global corporations.
PRESENTATION OF HIGH GROWTH SECTORS
Finance
Top European centre for investment funds (second worldwide behind the US), top centre
for private banks in the euro zone and preferred home for reinsurance companies –
Luxembourg is now a diverse financial centre which provides sophisticated products and
services to international clients.
Financial institutions and investors around the world have been drawn by its great
political, economic and social stability, its international outlook, its modern legal and
regulatory framework, and the availability of a highly-skilled international workforce.
The Stock Exchange plays a very important specific part in Luxembourg: it specialises
in bonds, with more than 3,500 issuers from over 100 countries. Islamic finance is
currently emerging.
As a result, it is not surprising that the financial sector plays a key role in Luxembourg’s
economy. It directly generates around a quarter of the country’s GDP and directly employs
around 47,000 people.
Luxembourg University
Luxembourg University, established in 2003, is a multilingual, international university
focusing on research and is home to 6,200 students and staff from all corners of the world.
The compulsory term overseas as part of the Bachelor degree demonstrates the importance
the university places on mobility. Exchange agreements are in place with around 60
universities in 20 countries across the world.
Priority research areas for Luxembourg University are international finance, ICT
security, systems biomedicine, European law and business law, as well as education
sciences.
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International teams of researchers and almost 550 PhD students work in the three
faculties as well as in the University’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability
and Trust (SnT) and Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB).
ICT
Luxembourg has successfully adapted to the IT revolution while strengthening its position
in the media industry.
Its two national giants – RTL Group in the media sector and SES in satellite
transmission – have been pioneers in these sectors and have opened the way for other
multimedia or telecommunication companies.
First rate networks and infrastructure, supported by a business-friendly legal framework
and a business culture based on trust and security, make Luxembourg a worldwide nerve
centre for the distribution of audio-visual digital content (music downloading, online
gaming, on demand video, pay per view television, digital radio and tv broadcasting).
The sector’s heavyweights such as Amazon.com, PayPal, eBay, Innova, iTunes, Nexon,
Rakuten, Skype, Vodafone, Kabam, RealNetworks and many others have chosen the
Grand Duchy as their base to conquer international markets.
Life Sciences
Personalised medicine is becoming a tangible reality for many diseases.
The growing individualisation of care is going to fundamentally change health services
and open new opportunities for the sector.
Luxembourg is at the forefront of this sector since 2008, when it joined forces with
internationally recognised research institutes to launch three projects as part of a new
government-led initiative: an international biological bank, a centre for systems
biomedicine and cooperation in research to identify lung cancer’s biological markers. In
order to support research and turn the country into a global leader in the integration of
personalised medicine in national healthcare systems, Luxembourg created the
Personalised Medicine Consortium (PMC) which includes the Integrated Biobank of
Luxembourg (IBBL), the State Centre for Research – Health (CRP – Santé) and the
Luxembourg Centre for systems biomedicine (LCSB) at the University of Luxembourg.
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Since its launch in 2010, the consortium has supported research programmes on
personalised healthcare, in particular for cancer, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.
The country’s interest in the biomedical sector continues to grow as illustrated by the
upcoming launch of dedicated infrastructure such as a business incubator for life sciences
start-ups.
R&D
The Luxembourgish government has made significant financial and structural
investments in order to support change in some sectors. Public support to research and
development is focused on innovation in all businesses, including in the service sector,
and is allocated as direct subsidies or loans from the National Society for Credit and
Investment (SNCI). Innovative start-ups are housed in incubators and backed by public
initiatives which smooth their inception and access to the State’s services and grants.
While R&D is relevant to the private sector as a whole, it is mostly undertaken by the
major players in traditional sectors such as steel and automotive components.
The government has made significant efforts to broaden R&D’s scope and to also include
ICT, logistics, health technologies, energy and the environment.
In order to do so, it supports clusters which aim to enable cross-sector cooperation.
One of the main tools to deliver this approach is the industrial business park of the Science
City, located on industrial wasteland. From 2015, it will include three public research
centres and part of the University of Luxembourg.
High Tech
Luxembourg can boast an impressive track record in innovation in industry (plastics and
materials), as demonstrated by the activities of the three main players in these sectors. The
American corporation Dupont de Nemours, expert on materials and services, has been
located in the Grand Duchy for half a century, with over 1,200 employees manufacturing
polyester films, high tech construction materials, medical packaging and industrial
security equipments.
Beyond manufacturing, the factory is also a key regional R&D centre.
Luxpet, a moulding injection business created in Luxembourg in 1998, makes
polyethylene terephthalate (PET) for the drinks sector. It was acquired in 2005 by
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Plastipak, world leader in plastic packaging, which subsequently set up its R&D centre
in Luxembourg and increased the production and recycling capacity of the site.
As for Euro Composites Ltd, founded in the mid-1980s, it calls Luxembourg the ‘ideal
place to set-up a business’.
Currently present in Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and the US, the company
records an annual turnover of 90m euros.
It designs and manufactures components, materials and composite tools for a range of
sectors, including aviation, aerospace, rail, defence, naval construction, road transport,
mechanical engineering and agriculture.
Clean technologies
Luxembourg has around 200 eco-businesses operating in renewable energies, green
construction, water and waste management. The development of the clean technologies
sector is supported by state agencies and research institutes.
As part of the ‘ecotechnologies’ action plan, a private sector initiative supported by the
Ministry of Economy, an area dedicated to eco-technologies companies has been built to
enable them to set up and have access to infrastructure and services which will allow them
to grow.
The sector’s companies located in Luxembourg and operating internationally include:
SOLER which invests in hydro and wind energy in Luxembourg and abroad; Epuramat
which is developing a revolutionary system for waste water treatment; L.E.E which
markets biogas plants in Europe, Asia and Africa; ECRES which reduces its customers’
electricity bills thanks to its LED technology; Rotarex which supplies China with kits to
convert compressed natural gas and reduce pollution from older cars and motorbikes;
Prefalux which provides the technology heating up Belgium’s Princess-Elisabeth
scientific base in Antarctica.
Biogas, waste water promotion and the production of biopolymers are amongst the areas
currently explored by the country’s research institutes, including:
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The Environment and Agro-biotechnologies of the Gabriel Lippman Research
Centre;
The Technologies Resourc e Centre for the Environment (CRTE), leader on
lifecycle evaluation, eco-design, eco-building and renewable energies;
NEOBUILD, the first technological innovation centre for the sustainable
construction sector, launched in 2012 as a public-private partnership;
Naturhome, builder of high quality housing in wood with low energy consumption;
Dezmotec, supplier of micro-cogeneration engines to enable hotels to reduce the
ecological footprint.
Aerospace
The aerospace sector is an example of Luxembourg’s commitment to the diversification
of and innovation in advanced technologies.
The country has been involved in this sector since the end of the 1970s, through several
policies which resulted in the launch of the European Satellites Company (better
known as SES) in 1985, a leading satellite telecommunication company and one of
the two largest satellite operators in the world.
The government requested Luxembourg’s entry to the European Spatial Agency
(ESA) in order to support the growth of this buoyant sector and, in 2012, the country
acted as co-president, strengthening its role in the institution.
Today, the sector counts 25 companies and four research institutes which cover such
diverse areas as:
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The aerospace section, focused on the production of satellite components (EuroComposites), microsatellite integration (Luxspace) and electrical propulsion
systems (ELWING EUROPE);
The terrestrial section, with land-based stations (SES and HITEC
Luxembourg), electrical and mechanical equipments for terrestrial support
(GRADEL and SES) and communication networks (Post and Telindus);
The services section, which includes teleport services (SES and Post) and high
speed satellite services (management of SES and CRP Gabrial Lippman
flooding).
Automotive equipment
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With 9,000 employees in over 30 companies and an annual turnover over 1.5 bn euros,
Luxembourg has become a prominent destination for automotive manufacturers.
Almost two thirds of a car’s value are now designed and produced by subcontractors.
Thanks to a central location and international workforce, businesses located in the Grand
Duchy can build and maintain close relationships with their customers and adapt their
products to their needs. The country’s stability and its collaborative approach to industrial
relations guarantee the reliability of deliveries. In addition, the Government provides
strong support to R&D projects.
Around a fifth of the sector’s activity in Luxembourg is devoted to research and
development. There are plenty of examples: IEE which provides detection devices to most
cars in the world; the global tyre manufacturer Goodyear; Guardian Industries, a glass
manufacturer for the automotive and construction sectors; Delphi Automotive, with the
headquarters of its subsidiaries Global Powertrain and European Thermal Division and
a clients’ technological centre.
Company headquarters
A growing number of large international corporations choose Luxembourg to expand
beyond their national borders and target overseas markets. Why choose Luxembourg?
The list of international corporations which already benefit from Luxembourg’s assets:
ArcelorMittal, the largest steel producer in the world; SES and Intelsat, leaders of satellite
telecommunications; the automotive equipment manufacturer Delphi (Powertrain
Systems); the chocolate maker Ferrero; RTL Group, European leader for radio and
television; Cargolux International Airlines, the cross-continent air freight company.
Amazon.com, Rakuten, Rovi Corp., PayPal, Barnes & Noble, Apple iTunes, DuPont
Teijin Films, Fanuc Robotics and Guardian Industries, amongst others, have recently
joined them.
Competition amongst countries is intense to attract corporations’ headquarters and yet,
Luxembourg is where they choose to be.
Here are the reasons why:
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A supportive fiscal environment and business-friendly legal and regulatory
framework, with many exemptions on profit sharing and a large range of
agreements aimed at avoiding double taxation;
A strategic central geographical location, with air, rail (high speed) and road
(motorways) networks which ensure quick access to the major economic and
political centres;
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One of the highest standards of living in the world, with optimum security and
quality of life which managers, their families and the international highly skilled
workforce they want to employ seek;
A qualified and multilingual workforce to meet the needs of businesses, in
particular in the legal, financial, accounting, commercial and marketing fields, in
supply chain management, R&D and intellectual property management;
High quality IT infrastructure and high speed international connections to meet
the growing demand for data and IT services centres.
A stable budgetary and political system, and a country which ranks amongst the
most prosperous and business-friendly European economies, enjoying Triple A
grading.
Logistics
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Air freight
Luxembourg’s international airport is one of the top European airports for air freight.
It is home to Cargolux, European leader for freight. With China Airlines, Yangtze
River Express, Qatar Airways and Panalpina, Cargolux serves several destinations
across all continents every day, making Luxembourg an ideal base for access to
international markets. LuxairCargo, which move 1.2m tonnes of goods every year with
its modern equipment, offers secure (TAPA certified), efficient and fast ground
services which allow freight planes to clear through customs and be unloaded in record
time. Lorries, located nearby, are then ready to serve a market equivalent to 80% of the
European GDP in under a day.
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Rail freight
CFL Cargo (traditional rail freight) and CFL Multimodal (combined transport and
multimodal logistics services) provide reliable links with continental Europe’s and
Turkey’s largest cities as well as to the ports of the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and the
Mediterranean.
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Import services
Thanks to easy access to governmental and customs authorities, dealing with custom
tariffs and VAT is a simple and painless administrative process.
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In this way, unlike in many European countries, prepayment of VAT on imports to
Luxembourg does not generate any cost because payments are listed on the VAT
statement automatically and fully.
Qualified haulage contractors, officers, dispatchers and logistics service providers
ensure a permanent link with all European countries.
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a significant source of value and plays a growing role in the
economic and commercial development of businesses. Luxembourg, aware of the
challenges involved in intellectual property management, seeks to foster a supportive
environment in this area. The Grand Duchy’s policies and strategies align with the
main treaties and agreements which frame the sector; their aim is to deliver a secure
environment for intellectual property, in accordance with European laws and
international agreements.
Luxembourg is an exemplar for the development, protection and management of
intellectual property, enabling businesses and organisations to place it at the core of
their economic model for innovation. Amongst Luxembourg’s unique assets are: tax
exemption on 80% of revenues generated by use of these intellectual property rights or
on added value from their transfer as well as complete exemption from wealth tax.
Copyrights on software, patents, commercial brands, designs, drawings and domain
names are eligible for these exemptions.
R&D costs are fully deductible if no revenue is generated.
The development of intellectual property is supported by national research centres and
the University of Luxembourg as well as by incubators and Government-led incentives
for R&D.
Maritime transport
Although Luxembourg has no direct access to the sea, Luxembourg’s involvement in
maritime transport is nothing short of a success story.
By combining financial expertise and attractive commercial, operational and fiscal
structures, businesses can flourish on the international scene.
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The fiscal regime, for instance, offers accelerated amortisation and tax credits for
investments, while load-based taxation is replaced by a basic fiscal system on
companies with very beneficial rates.
An independent Luxembourgish maritime cluster allows cargo ships or small cruise
boats owners and operators to benefit from the expertise available in other fields
(investment funds, asset management, securitisation, private equity, insurance and
logistics).
In 2013, no less than 254 ships were listed on Luxembourg’s maritime register,
including some belonging to such famous corporations as Jan de Nul Group, Cobelfret,
Socatra, Bourbon or Dredging International.
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