On Wednesday 4 May 2022, Luxembourg's Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Asselborn, accompanied by the Minister for the Economy, Franz Fayot, and the President of the Chamber of Commerce, Luc Frieden, welcomed for a working lunch the ambassadors and representatives of the ten countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the Chamber of Commerce.
ASEAN brings together ten Southeast Asian countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.
During this working lunch, bilateral relations between Luxembourg and the member countries of ASEAN, as well as the major topics of international and regional news were discussed. With regard to bilateral relations, Minister Asselborn recalled that Luxembourg attached great importance to relations with the countries of Southeast Asia, both at bilateral level and at European Union (EU) level. His bilateral visits to all ASEAN member countries testify to this desire.
With regard to economic and trade relations, the Minister Asselborn expressed the wish to further intensify economic cooperation between the ASEAN countries and Luxembourg. He underlined that Luxembourg aims to expand its connections with ASEAN, which already covers a wide range of sectors, ranging from finance, investments, fintech, transport, logistics, information technology. and communication and many other aspects that contribute to the resilience of the respective populations. Minister Asselborn recalled that all partners benefit from the dynamism of commercial relations, which have experienced sustained growth in recent years, rising from €205 million in 2019 to €273.8 million in 2021. Minister Fayot outlined the main development sectors of the Luxembourg economy and discussed several avenues for strengthening economic, commercial and financial cooperation between Luxembourg and ASEAN.
In addition, the lunch was an opportunity to discuss current international issues, in particular the war in Ukraine and the situation in Myanmar. In this context, Minister Asselborn reiterated his firm condemnation of Russia's unjustified attack against its Ukrainian neighbour. Minister Asselborn also took the opportunity to recall that it is necessary to protest against the dangerous application of the law of the strongest in international affairs, which could have repercussions in other regions of the world.
The working lunch was part of the third edition of ASEAN Day organised by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce, the Ministry of the Economy and the ASEAN Brussels Committee (ASEAN Brussels Committee, ABC).
Since its conception in 2017, ASEAN Day has been an exchange platform for institutional and economic actors to discuss cooperation opportunities with the aim of strengthening relations between Luxembourg, the EU and ASEAN. The first ASEAN Day since the 2017 and 2020 editions, due to the health crisis, the 4 May 2022 event will have brought together government representatives as well as actors from financial institutions and the private sector.
The first part of the day consisted of a presentation of economic opportunities by ASEAN ambassadors in their respective countries and a "business matching" session, namely economic prospecting sessions between the Luxembourg private sector and ASEAN embassies. The second part of the day was devoted to the presentation of Luxembourg players in the innovation, scientific research and logistics sector. The day ended with a panel on green, sustainable and inclusive finance with the participation of leading players in the field, including the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, Luxembourg for Finance and the European Central Bank.
