How to conquer the world (from Luxembourg)
How to conquer the world (from Luxembourg)
The trend towards centralising complex businesses at a single, functional headquarters is attracting attention to Luxembourg as an international business hub. However, “Luxembourg is not as well known as we would like to think”, declares Luc Decker, Deputy Director FDI at the Ministry of the Economy and Foreign Trade. This is why the Ministry, together with Luxembourg for Business, recently published a brochure “Conquer the world from your Luxembourg headquarter”. The publication provides a résumé of the advantages to a foreign company of setting up its headquarters in Luxembourg. In an interview with LFF, Luc Decker takes up the cudgel for Luxembourg.
LFF: Why consider Luxembourg for your global or European headquarters ?
LD: When a CFO or Chief Tax Officer is thinking about Luxembourg for establishing his company’s HQ, he often looks at it mainly from a tax perspective. However, Luxembourg is much more than a jurisdiction with a competitive level of taxation. From its geographical location and the rail, road and flight connections, the country offers an excellent access to all European customers. Luxembourg nationals speak at least four languages, and 43% of the population are non-Luxembourgish, making it possible to hire a highly skilled workforce able to speak to a company’s customers in their own language all over the world. The social and political stability make Luxembourg a reliable place to do business because it is not subject to large swings in regulation. These are some of the reasons that ArcelorMittal, SES, Skype, Delphi, Amazon, eBay, DuPont Teijin Films, Fanuc, Rakuten, Guardian, to name but a few, have chose Luxembourg as location for their global or European HQ.
LFF: Is Luxembourg on the radar screen of international groups that are searching for the ideal place for their headquarters ?
LD: Luxembourg is not as well known as we would like to think. It probably depends on the geographical origin and the activities of the international group whether and what they know about Luxembourg. The Grand-Duchy is often well known as a financial centre and may be on the radar screen of companies looking for a jurisdiction for their holding activities... But these companies might be surprised to know that the largest steel producer worldwide employs about 1000 people at their global headquarters in Luxembourg. There is still some work to do in order to make Luxembourg better known as a centre of excellence for core corporate functions, finance functions and support functions as logistics, R&D and ICT.
LFF: What are the main advantages of Luxembourg in terms of corporate finance ?
LD: The business friendly regulatory and legal framework, including the comprehensive tax legislation combined with very skilled human resources trained at the financial sector make Luxembourg the place to locate corporate finance functions.
LFF: Besides the technical advantages of setting up a headquarters in Luxembourg, for which reasons would you personally say that Luxembourg is a good place to move to ?
LD: For me, Luxembourg is a great place to live and work. It is a safe place to live and raise kids. The cultural diversity makes it easy to blend in for expats and their family. The highest density of Michelin star restaurants, the world-class programs of the Philharmonic Concert Hall, the Grand Théâtre de la Ville, the “Rockhal” and the lush green forests surrounding picturesque castles make the quality of life one of the country’s greatest assets.
Interview: EK