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PROFILE: Luxembourg

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Practical Tips for Doing Business in Luxembourg

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  • Most businesses are open from 7AM until 6 or 7PM, or even later.

  • Most people live in the same towns where they grew up.

  • Family comes first.

  • Dress conservatively.

  • People are generally very formal and reserved initially.

  • Punctuality is extremely important.

  • Personal questions are taboo.

  • Being overly emotional or impatient is frowned upon.

  • Pointing at someone with your finger is impolite and chewing gum in public gives a bad impression.

  • Use surnames and titles.

  • Business cards are important (English with French or German on reverse.) Do not include academic degrees or titles as Luxembourgians find such boastfulness rude and a sign of poor breeding.

  • Presentation material should be bilingual.

  • Big decisions take time.

  • Luxembourgish, French and German are official languages. English prevails in many businesses.

 

Brief History

  • 963 – History of Luxembourg proper begins

  • 1815 – Became a grand duchy and independent state 

  • 1839 – Lost more than half of their land to Belgium; came under protection from The Netherlands

  • 1867 – Gained independence from The Netherlands under condition of neutrality

  • WW I – Overrun by Germany

  • WWII – Overrun by Germany

  • 1948 – Entered Benelux Customs Union

  • 1949 – Joined NATO

  • 1957 – Became one of the 6 founding countries of the EEC (later the EU)

  • 1999 – Joined the EURO currency zone

 

Location:

Bordering on France, Germany and Belgium

 

General Information

  • Capital City: Luxembourg City

  • Literacy Rate: 100%

  • Size: About half the size of Delaware

  • Population:650,364 (2022 est.)

  • Population Growth: 1.64% (2022 est.)

  • Population Distribution: Most people live in the south on or near French border

  • Government Type: Constitutional monarchy

 

Economy

Luxembourg has a stable economy.  They are the fifth wealthiest country on a per capita basis.  Major industries are banking/financial services, construction, real estate, IT, telecommunications, logistics, transportation, engineering, biotechnology, tourism, manufacturing (iron & steel, tires, glass, aluminum etc.). They have the second largest investment fund asset location after the US - $4 trillion.

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  • Unemployment Rate: 6.96% (2020)

  • Currency Exchange Rate: 1 US Dollar = 0.99 Euros (July 13, 2022)

  • GDP: $71.089B

  • GDP Growth Rate: 2.31% (2019 est.)

  • Labor Force: 476,000 (2020 est.)

  • Labor Force Breakdown: Agriculture - 0.3%, Industry - 12.8%, Services - 86.9%   (2017 est.)

 

International Trade

Total Product Exports:

$15.5B (2020)

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Major Product Exports (2020)

  • Iron or non-alloy steel products - $821M

  • Motor cars & other vehicles - $619M

  • Tires - $555M

  • Iron & steel piling - $400M

  • Paper & paper products - $366M

 

Major Export Partners (2020)

  • Germany - $3.46B

  • France - $2.55B

  • Belgium - $1.76B

  • Netherlands - $943M

  • Italy - $580M

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Total Product Imports (2020)

$22.4B

 

Major Product Imports (2020)

  • Motor cars and other vehicles - $2.09B

  • Petroleum oils, oils from bituminous minerals - $1.07B

  • Medicines - $554M

  • Ferrous waste & scrap - $532M 

 

English Language News Sites

 

Sampling of Companies

  • Ari Nord Food Industry Handling and Distribution Sarl - food handling & distribution - www.arinord.eu - Luxembourg City

  • Arcelor Mittal - iron & steel - corporate.arcelormittal.com - Luxembourg City

  • Tenaris - steel pipes and related products - www.tenaris.com - Luxembourg City

  • Eurofins Scientific Testing - bio-analytical testing laboratories - www.eurofins.com - Luxembourg City

  • Artec 3D - 3D scanning software and hardware - www.artec3d.com - Luxembourg City (Operations in the US, China and Montenegro)

 

National Holidays – 2022

  • January 1 - New Year’s Day

  • April 18 - Easter Monday

  • May 1 - Labor Day

  • May 9 - Europe Day

  • May 26 - Ascension Day

  • June 6 - Whit Monday

  • June 23 - National Day

  • August 15 - Assumption Day

  • November1 - All Saints Day

  • December 25 - Christmas Day

  • December 26 - 2nd Day of Christmas

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By: Paul Mastilak

InterMark3, Inc.

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