Pakt Pro Commerce 2023: a Catalyst for Local Retail Trade

On Wednesday 25 January 2023, Lex Delles, Luxembourg's Minister for the Middle Classes, together with Carlo Thelen, Director General of the Chamber of Commerce, and Carole Muller, President of the Luxembourg Confederation of Commerce (CLC), presented the “Pakt Pro Commerce 2023”. 

The “Pakt Pro Commerce”, launched in 2016 by the three organisations, aims to boost and support the development of local retail trade through a series of practical actions. 

Minister Delles presented the fundamental elements of the 2023 edition of the “Pakt pro Commerce” which is divided into five thematic axes, which are as much axes of reflection as of action:

- The first part concerns the commercial cadastre. This is a database that corresponds to a mapping of national commercial offers. The cadastre thus makes it possible to better follow the evolution of the various (retail) sectors and identify trends, for example the evolution of the vacancy rate (“Leerstandskadaster”). Thanks to the new “Pakt Pro Commerce”, merchants can use certain information from the cadastre to support their strategic choices, for example when it comes to choosing a commercial location or opening new sites. Municipalities participating in the cadastre project have access to a complete package including various analysis tools and an advisory service. The general public can also consult a selection of cadastral data via the geoportail.lu site.

- The second part provides for a statistical analysis of the evolution of trade in Luxembourg using a "business data" portal and various studies. Among these studies is the “Retail Report”, which analyses the commercial offer on a national scale.

- The third part concerns the organisation of a “Retail Event” in July 2023 in the city of Luxembourg.

- The fourth component plans to attract more customers from the Greater Region through innovative promotional actions.

- The fifth and last component provides for the awareness of merchants on corporate social responsibility (CSR). In this context, the General Directorate for the Middle Classes offers a new tool that supports small and medium-sized enterprises individually in the preparation for obtaining labeling in the field of CSR.

Minister Delles underlined in this context that “Local commerce is a central pillar of our villages, and together with the “Pakt Pro Commerce“, the General Directorate of the Middle Classes, the Chamber of Commerce and the Confederation Commerce Luxembourg demonstrate that they not only observe the development of commerce, but that they actively accompany it".

Carlo Thelen, Director General of the Chamber of Commerce, welcomes “the renewal of Pakt Pro Commerce, a very powerful tool providing relevant initiatives in favour of the development of retail trade in Luxembourg. It aims to concretely support businesses to better manage current challenges and face them in a rapidly changing environment. In this complex context, the Chamber of Commerce remains alongside retail companies and supports them throughout their entrepreneurial journey, in particular through the services offered by the House of Entrepreneurship”.

Carole Muller, President of the Luxembourg Confederation of Commerce, said “the Pakt Pro Commerce is an important initiative to support commerce, and the CLC is pleased with its good collaboration with the Directorate General of the Middle Classes and the Chamber of Commerce” .

Interesting facts

54,800 people are now employled in the retail trade in the Grand Duchy: every second business here operates in the retail trade (the percentage is actually 62%). 35% of such businesses are in city- or town-centres.

Just 9% of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Luxembourg sell online, compared to the EU average of 18%; whereas 82% of Luxembourg residents shop online, compared to the EU average of 74%.