New Entity Luxembourg for Business and Innovation Created to Pool Efforts in Promotion of Luxembourg Economy

After the government cabinet meeting agreed to the merger of Luxembourg for Business into Luxinnovation last Friday, Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy, Étienne Schneider, yesterday presented the terms of the reform of the country's economic promotion, announced in October 2015.

This will involve pooling the skills of Luxembourg for Business (LfB) and Luxinnovation as part of the Digital Lëtzebuerg strategy, meaning that all efforts in economy promotion will now be conducted under the name "Luxembourg for Business and Innovation".

The promotional activities of foreign trade and prospecting will be modernised whilst optimising the synergies between the Ministry of the Economy, Luxinnovation and different actors within the national economy. The aim will be to share specialised sector expertise, particularly with regard to the precise knowledge of the economic sectors, proactive targeting and marketing and communication efforts.

"We all have the same goal: developing the economy in Luxembourg, whilst keeping a competitive advantage with respect to overseas," announced Étienne Schneider. "This is achieved by a more consistent and clear distribution of the roles of different actors in the promotion of trade and exploration. This reform is characterised by the will and by the common commitment of all stakeholders and will benefit from the financial resources necessary for its success."

Decision-making bodies of the new platform for coordination under the authority of the Ministry of the Economy are the Trade and Investment Board and the Trade and Investment Steering Committee.

The Steering Committee meets twice a month to discuss the development of a promotional and prospecting strategy based on the government's priorities, which in turn is supervised and approved by the Trade and Investment Board. The latter is chaired by the Minister of the Economy under the patronage of HRH the Grand Duke, and comprises Presidents of the Chamber of Commerce, the FEDIL, Luxinnovation and the Chamber of Trade, as well as representatives of various ministries.

President of the Chamber of Commerce, Michel Wurth, said the Chamber had long recognised the need for the reform in terms of the economic promotion of the Grand Duchy: "The exploration and promotion of foreign trade have always been an integral part of the missions of the Chamber of Commerce which, after the reform, will play an active role in the new structure."

"Due to extended tasks entrusted to Luxinnovation, we are aware of our responsibility and important role in the new structure," commented Raymond Schadeck, president of Luxinnovation. "By bringing our targeted industry expertise, we will manage to boost exploration and better meet the requirements of foreign investors."