Luxembourg, Japan Sign Key Air Services & Space Cooperation Agreements

Luxembourg’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Cooperation and Foreign Trade and the Ministry of the Economy have reported on the second day of the official economic mission to Japan,  Tuesday 11 June 2024.

The official economic mission to Japan, chaired by Luxembourg’s Hereditary Grand Duke and jointly led by the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Xavier Bettel, and the Minister of the Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism, Lex Delles, continued on Tuesday. It was marked by the signing of two key agreements, at the level of air services and in the field of space activities, during the interview with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Yoko Kamikawa.

Luxembourg’s Hereditary Grand Duke and the two ministers first participated in a round table with Keidanren, the Japan Business Federation, which has nearly 1,500 members, companies, national industrial associations and regional economic organisations combined. The discussions focused mainly on the data economy and space technologies, key topics of the economic mission and provided an overview of bilateral economic relations.

Accompanied by the Hereditary Grand Duke and Lex Delles, Xavier Bettel then had a bilateral meeting with his counterpart, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Yoko Kamikawa. In addition to an exchange of views on the latest international developments, including in particular the situation in Gaza, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific, the meeting provided an opportunity to take stock of bilateral relations between Luxembourg and Japan, as well as the ways to strengthen them even further, the ministries noted. On this occasion, a ceremony was organised to formalise the signing of two key agreements.

On the one hand, Minister Bettel announced the signing of an agreement relating to air services between Luxembourg and Japan. This agreement constitutes a legal framework conducive to strengthening connectivity and economic development between Luxembourg and Japan. The Luxembourg cargo airline will now be able to serve Narita Airport (Tokyo) and Komatsu Airport with a long-term perspective, the ministries added.

Minister Bettel said: “This agreement relating to air services is the confirmation of the policy pursued by the Luxembourg government in matters of air transport and reaffirms the role of Luxembourg as an important hub for air freight and transport logistics in Europe.”

On the other hand, the ministers signed a government-to-government cooperation agreement, aimed at strengthening cooperation between the two governments in their activities in the space domain for peaceful purposes. This Memorandum of Cooperation follows the Memorandum of Understanding which was concluded in November 2017, during Luxembourg's last state visit to Japan, regarding the exploration and use of space resources, and which expired in 2022.

Minister Delles commented in this context: “We greatly appreciate our regular exchanges with Japan in the space field, initiated since 2017, and we look forward to being able to renew our cooperation through this Memorandum of Cooperation. This agreement will promote the development of joint projects and strengthen collaboration between our space ecosystems, whether our industries or our research centres and universities. In particular, Luxembourg is very interested in contributing to the space exploration missions of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).”

Accompanied by the Hereditary Grand Duke and Minister Bettel, Minister Delles also met his counterpart, Ken Saito, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan. They discussed the digital transition as well as the different areas of bilateral cooperation, particularly in startups and space. Luxembourg's participation in the Universal Expo in Osaka in 2025 was also mentioned.

The day ended with a high-level reception to which Japanese companies and partners present in Luxembourg were invited.