Japanese Start-Up Thermalytica to Open Subsidiary in Grand Duchy

Luxembourg's Chamber of Commerce has published a report on the recent economic mission to Japan, which was held from 10 to 14 June in the cities of Tokyo and Tsukuba.

According to the chamber, it was a great success and helped strengthen economic and trade relations between the two countries. Luxembourg companies had the opportunity to meet their Japanese counterparts during B2B meetings and took advantage of numerous networking sessions, counting more than 60 business meetings during an economic forum.

The official economic mission, chaired by HRH the Hereditary Grand Duke, was led jointly by Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Xavier Bettel, as well as the Minister of the Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism, Lex Delles, and the Director General of the Chamber of Commerce, Carlo Thelen. 60 representatives of Luxembourg companies and institutions accompanied the official delegation and had the opportunity to interact with Japanese economic representatives.

With a particular emphasis on space, digital, information and communication technologies, technologies applied to the field of health and artificial intelligence, this mission aimed to strengthen the presence of Luxembourg companies, to facilitate them access to the Japanese market and allow them to identify new business opportunities.

The mission fully achieved its objectives thanks to a rich programme punctuated by company visits, networking opportunities and fruitful exchanges with Japanese companies. These interactions established the foundations for future partnerships and collaborations, thereby strengthening the position of Luxembourg companies in the Japanese market.

Japan even closer

For Carlo Thelen, the trade mission marked an "important milestone" in strengthening relations between Luxembourg and Japan, at a key moment, just one year before the Universal Exhibition which will take place in Osaka in 2025. He welcomed the great success of this mission which made it possible to take stock of current relations between the two countries, while strengthening economic ties. “We came to Japan with the objective of expanding our collaboration with our Japanese counterparts, and we achieved this objective by demonstrating that Luxembourg is a reliable and trusted partner that also offers many opportunities for Japan."

Concrete results

Japan is one of the world's major economic powers and a dynamic economy, aiming for high productivity through research, innovation and technological progress. This is a market open to opportunities and partnerships in the cutting-edge sectors represented by participating Luxembourg companies, particularly in the fields of ICT, space and health technologies.

This is particularly illustrated by the inspiring example of Thermalytica which announced during this mission the opening of its subsidiary in Luxembourg. The Japanese start-up participated in the ICT Spring show in 2023, where it was selected to join the Fit 4 Start acceleration program.

Concerning strategic partnerships, the mission also bore fruit with the signing of three economic agreements; a memorandum of understanding between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA), a letter of intent between JAXA and Luxprovide, as well as an agreement relating to air services between Luxembourg and Japan.

From the largest to the smallest companies, all participants had the opportunity to make their voices heard and gain visibility among economic players in Japan. The mission made it possible to highlight Luxembourg start-ups during the “Tsukuba x Luxembourg Start-Up Night”. This event dedicated to Luxembourg start-ups highlighted the strengths of the two ecosystems through four Luxembourg start-ups, EmailTree AI, Virtual Rangers, Gradel and Rafinex, and four Japanese start-ups, which presented their technologies and solutions. innovative during pitching sessions.

The event, organized jointly by the Chamber of Commerce, Luxinnovation and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), brought together nearly 100 companies.

Finally, the Luxembourg delegation had the opportunity, at the end of a Luxembourg-Japan economic forum, to be put in contact with Japanese partners during B2B meetings organised by the Chamber of Commerce, in close collaboration with Luxembourg Trade and Investment Office in Tokyo. In total, more than 60 appointments were made.

The agreements signed as well as the business meetings that took place in Tokyo laid the foundations for strengthened economic cooperation.

World Expo 2025 in Osaka

This mission will be followed by the presence of the Grand Duke at the Universal Expo 2025 in Osaka (13 April – 13 October 2025) which will represent a new opportunity to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.