TEN GOOD REASONS TO CHOOSE LUXEMBOURG WELCOME TO LUXEMBOURG p. 3 YOUR GATEWAY TO EUROPE p. 4 BUSINESS FRIENDLY p. 6 STABLE AND RELIABLE p. 8 ATTRACTIVE WORK ENVIRONMENT p. 10 SKILLED AND TALENTED p. 12 MULTILINGUAL WORK FORCE OUTSTANDING DIGITAL p. 14 INFRASTRUCTURE YOUR LOGISTICS HUB IN EUROPE p. 16 INVESTMENT AND R&D AND p. 18 INNOVATION INCENTIVES INCLUSIVE AND MULTICULTURAL p. 20 SAFE WITH A HIGH QUALITY OF LIFE p. 22 KEY BUSINESS SECTORS p. 24 HOW WE CAN HELP YOU p. 26 CONTENTS WELCOME TO LUXEMBOURG WHERE ROADS CROSS, IDEAS MULTIPLY AND INNOVATION ABOUNDS. Are you looking for a great place to launch or scale up your business? Then Luxembourg is the smart choice. HERE ARE TEN GOOD REASONS WHY. © Tristan Schmurr © Tristan 3 1. YOUR GATEWAY TO EUROPE Luxembourg is an excellent gateway for the dissemi- nation of products and services in Europe and well be- yond. A founding member of the European Union (EU) and part of the Eurozone, the country is situated at the heart of several major European markets: 60% of the Multilingual, multicultural and diversified, yet relatively EU’s GDP can be reached by a one-hour flight. As a lead- small in size, Luxembourg can be used as an ideal test market ing financial centre specialised in global and European to develop concepts and test new products and services. cross-border activities, Luxembourg has a well-devel- The country’s well-known commercial and political oped legal and regulatory framework for international neutrality helps to facilitate good international business trade and is quick to implement EU legislation. relationships. #3 most globalised economy in the world. Ranking based on cross- border trade, investment and revenue flows in relation to GDP and the impact of restrictions on trade and capital transactions. Source: 2017 KOF Index of Globalisation © Tristan Schmurr © Tristan 4 Eurozone Other EU countries • 1 market – 28 countries • Easy access to Distance from Luxembourg City to: (GDP € 14.6 trillion in 2015) 500 million consumers Paris 380 km • 19 countries in the Eurozone • Free mobility of capital, Frankfurt 250 km (one currency – euro) products, services and labour Brussels 200 km 5 2. BUSINESS FRIENDLY Doing business in Luxembourg is simple. This is largely thanks to the successful efforts of successive govern- ments to create a favourable environment for business and their ability to attract many international companies #1 due to a flexible and attractive legal framework as well highest labour productivity as policies. Public authorities and administrations are in the world easy to access, and the open-mindedness and forward thinking of politicians benefits companies looking to (GDP generated per hour worked) start or relocate activities in Luxembourg. Source: 2017 KOF Index of Globalisation © Tristan Schmurr © Tristan 6 Easy business creation process Facilities Business-oriented regulations • Vibrant start-up ecosystem • Land and office space are • Streamlined and transparent with numerous support measures readily available administrative procedures for start-ups from incubation to • The national incubator Technoport • Attractive corporate tax rate • Simplified limited liability company: offers 16,000 m2 of facilities – compared to other EU countries the ‘1-euro-company’ office space, co-working space and industrial workshops – to start- • Extensive network of double • Easy access to professional ups and international companies tax treaties support and advice from the House looking for their first premises of Entrepreneurship; a one-stop- in Luxembourg • Favourable indirect labour costs shop for project initiators and established entrepreneurs • Large number of private • Advantageous import and co-working spaces, incubators export regulations • English can be used for all and accelerators incorporation-related documents (with a French/German translation) 7 3. STABLE AND RELIABLE In times of political and economic uncertainty, a stable Luxembourg – a country with strong long-term growth home base becomes increasingly valuable. No wonder, prospects and sustained employment creation. then, that international companies are attracted to PERFORMANCE STABILITY • Consistent growth • AAA-rated country by all credit rating agencies: above the EU average (4.8% in 2015) sound macroeconomic fundamentals • Low inflation (0.3% in 2016) • 2nd lowest government debt ratio in the EU (21% of GDP in 2016) #1 Source: Eurostat GDP performance in the world (GDP generated per hour worked) Source: Statista, 2016 © Tristan Schmurr © Tristan 8 COMPETITIVENESS OPEN SOCIETY • Parliamentary democracy • Constitutional monarchy #8 • Low bureaucratic hurdles most competitive economy in the world Source: IMD World Competitivity Yearbook 2017 9 4. ATTRACTIVE WORK ENVIRONMENT © Tristan Schmurr © Tristan 10 With a dynamic labour market that offers a myriad of exciting job opportunities and highly competitive sal- aries, Luxembourg is one of the most attractive plac- es to work in Europe and an ideal location to build an #1 international career. best place for expats In order to attract highly skilled employees with specif- to build their careers ic knowledge from abroad, employers sometimes help to cover costs related to their move to Luxembourg Luxembourg offers a stable such as removal and housing costs or school fees. Un- economy, safe jobs and a healthy der certain conditions and for a limited period, highly work-life balance. qualified employees can benefit from a tax exoneration Source: Expat Insider Working Abroad Index 2016 on such contributions from their employer linked to their expatriation. 11 5. SKILLED AND TALENTED MULTILINGUAL WORK FORCE A true knowledge economy, Luxembourg has an ex- ceptionally skilled workforce and attracts the best talent from neighbouring countries and well beyond. The language skills of the multicultural population are outstanding: fluency in three or more languages is the norm rather than the exception. This means that you #1 can easily find staff who are able to communicate with for average number of languages your international clients in their own language and to spoken by the population in an EU understand their needs effortlessly. Expatriates settle country (3.6 languages) quickly in Luxembourg and simplified work permit pro- Source: Eurobarometer cedures for qualified personnel from outside the EU have been put in place. © Luxemburger Wort / Alice Enders / Alice Wort © Luxemburger 12 590,700* International population inhabitants 48 %* > 170* foreigners different nationalities French Luxembourgish Excellent language skills English is German widely spoken 72.8 % th foreign citizens Highly skilled and in the 7Global Talent cosmopolitan workforce in the workforce Competitiveness Index 2017 1st in the world for 60% of the workforce in highly-skilled jobs requiring tertiary employment: BE education (Statista, 2015) 179,000 cross-border workers from Belgium, France and Germany DE FR *Source: Statec, May 2017 13 6. OUTSTANDING DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE Digital technology is the lifeblood of our economy. Luxembourg has been a communications pioneer for several decades, and ranks today among the top countries for ICT in the world. The reason for this? A strong determination to become a trusted data hub where any type of business basing its activities on digitalisation can thrive. A data-driven economy A European HPC centre Luxembourg’s infrastructure and legal framework, which High Performance Computing (HPC) is revolutionising is linked with European directives on data processing industry and digital business across the world. and privacy, combine to provide a highly secure “digital Luxembourg is taking a leading role in a pan-European embassy” for very sensitive or simply high volume data project on HPC and Big Data-enabled applications and to be stored, processed and curated. is acquiring an HPC with the power of one petaflop per second with the primary aim of meeting business needs. Top-level infrastructure Amsterdam 6 ms London 8 ms Brussels New York 3,5 ms Frankfurt Singapore 3,5 ms Paris Strasbourg 4,8 ms 4,8 ms Madrid 14 Luxembourg hosts 28 40% international of all European fibre routes to main Tier IV data European hubs 23 centres data centres, including 8 with Tier IV certification Available since 2015 The data centres are powered by low-cost, eco-friendly • 100 Mbps internet links for 98% of the population energy from a highly reliable power grid. • 1 Gbps connections (min. 50% coverage) Available from 2020 • Nation-wide coverage of ultra-high-speed broadband (“Fibre to the Home”) • 1 Gbps connections (100% coverage) The Luxembourg Commercial Internet Exchange (LU-CIX) provides carriers with an access to high-capacity lines with very competitive round-trip times without congestion. 15 7. YOUR LOGISTICS HUB IN EUROPE Luxembourg’s central location in Europe coupled with excellent air, road, rail and waterway infrastructure po- sition the country as a competitive inter-continental lo- gistics hub. The country is continuously improving its positioning as an intercontinental logistics hub in Eu- rope – especially for contract, air and rail freight-based logistics activities – and recently inaugurated the most modern inter-modal hub in the Benelux. As logistics in#2 the world spans across sectors, Luxembourg is developing its lo- in terms of gistics hub in synergy with other key sectors. global logistics Multimodal transport hub for value-added logistics capabilities in category#1 “Timeliness” in category#1 “Ease of arranging shipments” Source: World Bank’s