OCTOBER 2017

Enjoy our Newsletter!

You are welcome to send your comments to our e-mail at ankara.amb@mae.etat.lu and to visit the following websites for more information on Luxembourg

BENCHMARKS

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has published its new comparative study on the competitiveness.

The World Economic Forum reports that Luxembourg has gained one place compared to the past two years, reaching 19th place worldwide among the 137 countries evaluated. On a scale of 1 (the least competitive) to 7 (the most competitive), the Grand Duchy achieved an average of 6.0 for its fundamental requirements in terms of competitiveness (10th worldwide); 5.0 for its efficiency factors (23rd) and 5.1 for its innovation and sophistication factors (16th).  This results in an average score of 5.23. More information

Source: World Economic Forum; inspiringluxembourg.lu

FINANCE

Luxembourg’s Minister of Finance, Pierre Gramegna, visited China for high-level bilateral meetings, including with Minister of Finance Xiao Jie and Governor Zhou Xiaochuan. The Minister headed a delegation of more than 70 key decision-makers from Luxembourg’s financial services industry.

This visit demonstrated the commitment of both countries to boost co-operation, in particular in green finance and FinTech.

In the context of the yearly road show, Luxembourg for Finance organized conferences in Beijing and in Shanghai bringing together financial services professionals to discuss recent developments and trends in the investment sphere between China and Europe. Several cooperation agreements were signed, including a MoU between the bankers’ associations, ABBL and China Banking Association, to strengthen the international exchange and co-operation in the banking industry as well as between the Luxembourg House of Financial Technologies (LHoFT) and Tsinghua University Science Park Ventures to promote Fintech investments between China and Europe.

Furthermore, China UnionPay, the Chinese leader in card payments, decided to establish an operation in Luxembourg through its subsidiary China UnionPay Merchant Services (China UMS) to develop its activities on the European market. Ant Financial, the online finance arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and mother company of Alipay, will participate in Infrachain, a blockchain infrastructure initiative of which the Luxembourg government is one of the promoters. More information

Source: luxembourgforfinance.com

Citigroup’s private bank is setting up a new booking in Luxembourg that will allow it administer the accounts of its EU clients after Brexit.

Citi’s private bank is entirely focused on “ultra high-net worth” clients, who each have total wealth of $25m and at least $10m of that money with Citi. At present many European clients are handled by staff in London and services provided to them are booked in the UK.

Citi said its new booking centre “will leverage Citi’s existing legal vehicle and presence in Luxembourg”.

“The decision is based on what is best for our clients and what will allow us to continue to service our clients without any disruption”. “Luxembourg is a known international wealth centre with an established culture of international family offices.” the bank added.More information

Source: Financial Times

Tokio Marine announced that it will establish its new European subsidiary in Luxembourg following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. Tokio Marine is aiming to have the new insurance company operational within the first half of 2018 to enable Tokio Marine HCC and Tokio Marine Kiln to start writing business, including with Japanese customers.

According to Tokio Marine, Luxembourg was chosen thanks to its pro-business position, strong financial services experience and well-respected and robust regulator, as well as its geographic location at the centre of Europe. More information

Source: luxembourgforfinance.com

SPACE

Considering their common interest in the exploration, use and application of space for peaceful purposes, Luxembourg and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) jointly agreed on the opportunity to cooperate on space activities.

With particular focus on the exploration and utilization of space resources, the five-year cooperation agreement covers the exchange of information and expertise between Luxembourg and UAE space sectors in the areas of space science and technology, human capital development and space policy, law and regulation. Both nations intend to regularly consult on questions of international governance of space to reach common positions in relevant international fora. More information

Source: Spaceresources.lu

Less than three years after its creation, GovSat -- a public-private joint venture between the government and satellite operator SES -- is ready to put Luxembourg on the space map.

The commercial venture is targeting governments and defense users looking for secure communication services when deploying military operations, responding to humanitarian crisis, peacekeeping or engaging in situational awareness missions.

GovSat is in the process of building its first military satellite GovSat-1, with the geostationary satellite designed to use X-band and military Ka-band frequencies on high-power and fully steerable mission beams to support multiple operation. More information

Source: wort.lu

EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

A new state-run European school opening in Luxembourg from 2018 will put pupils on an equal footing with their European peers when entering various further education systems across the EU, according to Education Minister Claude Meisch.

An accredited European school is an establishment which is not part of the official European School network but offers a programme which matches the teaching requirements and is overseen by the European inspectorate.

Asked who the school is catered for, Meisch said it will be a free-of-charge "public school open to all".
"The school allows integration for foreigners' pupils, both for families who want to stay in Luxembourg and for those who are in the country for a set length of time. The curriculum at the European school is also accessible to national pupils who want to be part of a multilingual and multicultural school system." More information

Source: Wort.lu

On 7 September 2017, Luxembourg joined 20 other European countries in the ELIXIR (European Life Sciences Infrastructure for Biological Information) network, a network in which life science research data are shared and made available on the Internet in the long term. Supported by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, ELIXIR-LU will enable European researchers to access the personalized biomedical data stored at the Luxembourg Center for Systems Biomedicine(LCSB) of the University of Luxembourg. More information

Source: inspiringluxembourg.lu

UPCOMING EVENTS

NewSpace Europe is the first space conference in Europe to focus solely on the newspace industry and the economic opportunity of space.

Hosted by The Ministry of the Economy of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, NewSpace Europe will center around the theme “New Frontiers of Opportunity” highlighting the exponential growth of the space ecosystem, critical to creating a sustainable space economy across the world. Through engaging conference sessions and unique networking opportunities, participants will have the opportunity to discover and align with the people, technologies and ideas from across space and other diverse markets that are shaping and leading the industry. More information

Source: NewSpace Europe

13 May-26 November 2017, Venice - The artist Mike Bourscheid will be representing Luxembourg at the 57th International Art Exhibition. The artist's work entitled Thank you so much for the flowers will be open to the public from 13 May to 26 November 2017.

The Luxembourg Pavilion will be exhibiting reappropriated costumes and domestic objects – made by Mike Bourscheid – and adding to the scene with music and performances that attempt to question social conventions and societal norms. More information