Luxembourg is a country on the move

Luxembourg is going through a phase of transformation driven by technology. We all know that Luxembourg is known for financial services and the country boast of the second largest fund industry in the world, next only to the US. However, as Luxembourg very well knows from its steel manufacturing times, this leadership do not last forever. The world tries to constantly catch-up and Luxembourg has to reinvent itself regularly to move forward. Many of us also work in the adjoining and support industries of finance such as legal, accounting, tax, and real-estate etc. There are other industries in Luxembourg that has also been successful such as Satellite (SES), Cargo (Luxcargo is one of the biggest operations of its kind in Europe), and needless to say some of the critical EU institutions such as European Investment Bank, European Court of Justice etc. are based in Luxembourg. Not bad for a country of half-a-million to accomplish all these. Luxembourg, therefore, can competitively lay claim to the title of "Singapore of Europe". With the robust financial regulatory authority such as CSSF, and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, these claims can be backed by facts. However, Luxembourg knows that it has to take leadership in the ongoing changes driven by technology. Hence a number of initiatives have been taken up by Luxembourg in this regard. We would mention some initiatives below, and elaborate on this further in the subsequent articles. Fintech: Fintech is the marriage between Financial services and technology. The rise of technology in disrupting how banking is delivered and how customers interacts with banks and financial institution. From reaching the unbanked population to delivering real-time financial services are all disrupted by technology today. This development has direct impact on Luxembourg's Financial services leadership. To this development, Luxembourg is adapting rapidly and aims to be the European leader in Fintech and faces some heavy competition in this space from other places, in particular from London. Space: The success of SES has positioned to Luxembourg to aim for bigger rewards in the ongoing space revolution. For much of the last century, space operations have been publicly funded and is driven by country's political leaderships. Export of space technologies have been heavily regulated and private industry has largely been kept out. When people realized that we carry much more computing power in our smart phones than a number of satellites, something fundamentally changed. The rise of nano satellites, space mining and more have become a competitive field for private innovators and entrepreneurs. Luxembourg is looking to take leadership position in space mining and we will elaborate on this in our subsequent posts. Cyber Security: If you're connected to the Internet, you're vulnerable that someone can hack into it. The best way to be safe is to be not connected. However, this is not an option since Internet is here to stay and gobbling every thing out there in what is called as Internet of Things (IoT). From Tesla car's online update to your dashboard to eventual control of refrigerator to everything at home, desk, and plant, every thing will eventually be plugged into to the Internet and delivering security in this space is simply critical. In this scenario, Fintech relies heavily on cyber security and Luxembourg is working on this field as well. Luxembourg knows that it's very leadership and wealth comes from adapting to the world's changes fast. As a small country with a savvy political team and institutions, Luxembourg's advantage is that it can move rapidly than bigger countries. Fingers crossed for this journey for Luxembourg, and it's definitely a country on the move. ----- If you like your article to be featured on LuxExpats, reach out to us at contact@luxexpats.lu