L-R: Pierre Gramegna, Luxembourg's Minister of Finance; Stefano Bonaccini, President of Emilia-Romagna, President of CEMR; Credit: SIP / Julien Warnand

On Thursday 3 June 2021, Stefano Bonaccini, President of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy and of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), undertook a working visit to Luxembourg.

During his visit, Stefano Bonaccini met with Luxembourg's Minister of Finance, Pierre Gramegna, the Minister of the Economy, Franz Fayot, and the Minister for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Minister for Tourism, Lex Delles. Together, they explored the prospects for developing relations between the Italian region and the Grand Duchy, particularly in the field of green finance, ICT and tourism. 

Green Finance

Italy is one of the most important European markets for Luxembourg. It is its sixth supplier and occupies fifth place in terms of Luxembourg exports. In addition, there are many connections between the Italian and Luxembourg financial sectors. The presence of several Italian banks and insurance companies such as UniCredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, Mediobanca, Banca Popolare dell'Emilia Romagna International or Generali reflects the deep links between the two economies. Several Italian players have also chosen the Luxembourg Green Exchange (LGX) for the issue of environmental, social and governance (ESG) securities. As for investment funds, Luxembourg represents nearly 60% of foreign funds sold in Italy and around 60 Italian fund managers have set up funds in the Grand Duchy. Satispay, an Italian fintech specialising in mobile payments, has been very active in Luxembourg since 2018.

Emilia-Romagna is the third most industrialised region in Italy after Lombardy and Lazio. It has experienced higher growth rates than other regions. With a population of 4.5 million, for an area of ​​22,500 km2, Emilia-Romagna is currently the region with the highest export / inhabitant ratio in Italy. More than 90% of companies in Emilia-Romagna are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The automobile, textile and food industry are the industrial pillars of the regional economy. The innovation / high-tech component has experienced very strong development over the past 20 years, fuelled by the Bologna university centre.

Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna discussed ESG investments and sustainable funds with Stefano Bonaccini during a working lunch at Senningen Castle during which Diego Brasioli, Italian Ambassador to Luxembourg, was also present. Both President Bonaccini and Minister Gramegna highlighted the good relations between the two countries at the economic, political and cultural level.

Luxembourg's Finance Minister commented: “There are many Italian success stories in our country. At the level of the financial centre, Italian actors play an important role”.

ICT

Today, Emilia-Romagna already concentrates some 70% of all Italian “Big Data”, either to be processed or stored, by around 1,500 researchers and a total of 52,000 jobs in the field of research and development (R&D). Consequently, the Big Data Technopole of Bologna Hub was one of the subjects that Luxembourg's Economy Minister Franz Fayot and Stefano Bonaccini addressed. They also discussed the fields of digital, new technologies and the green economy as well as the role of the cultural and creative industry in stimulating innovation. Just like Bissen in the Grand Duchy, which hosts the MeluXina supercomputer, Bologna will host one of the eight supercomputers as part of the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU). The Italian supercomputer, named “Leonardo”, will be managed by CINECA, a consortium of 69 Italian universities, 21 national institutes and the Ministry of Education, University and Research. Before leaving Luxembourg, Stefano Bonaccini visited the installations of MeluXina which is installed in the DC2 data centre of LuxConnect in Bissen.

Minister Franz Fayot stated: "While our two countries are already historically closely linked by the steel industry, I am delighted that Italy and Luxembourg are today allies in various strategic areas of innovation, including in particular the EuroHPC joint venture. This is a strategic project for the future of Europe and for its digital transition, in order to position Europe as a pioneer in the field of digital innovation”.

Tourism

Tourism Minister Lex Delles also met with Stefano Bonaccini to discuss Luxembourg's tourism policy, which aims to further exploit the potential of the Italian market. Various promotional campaigns will be implemented in the coming weeks and months. They also discussed the possibility of enhanced cooperation at the tourism and economic level. The two sides agreed to continue their collaboration in a number of areas of common interest, including tourism and the SME sector.

Minister Lex Delles noted: "Italian tourists are of particular interest to the tourist destination of the Grand Duchy".

Stefano Bonaccini's visit to Luxembourg follows a series of meetings of a working group set up by the Italian Embassy wishing to deepen bilateral relations. Interested in technological collaboration, Stefano Bonaccini also spoke with the Director General of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, Carlo Thelen, and the CEO of Luxinnovation, Sasha Baillie.