Economic Mission
From the 18th to the 21st of November 2018, the Chamber of Commerce of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and its Enterprise Europe Network, in collaboration with the Embassy of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to Italy, the Honorary Consulates in Genoa and Turin as well as the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Luxembourg, organised an economic mission to Northern Italy.
The mission, comprising a delegation of 30 participants, started in Genoa, capital of the region of Liguria and the sixth largest city in Italy. A first visit was paid to IIT, the Italian Institute of Technology, active in the areas of nanotechnologies, robotics, life science and computational science. Starting with 100 researchers in 2008, this excellence center employs today 1,700 researchers, edits more than 11,000 publications, is involved in over 180 European projects and has more than 600 active patent applications, e.g. “iCub”, an open source humanoid cognitive robot, biodegradable packaging produced from vegetable garbage, or acoustic glasses enabling people with ear diseases to filter noises.
To pave the way for further business relations, a business forum was organised with the support of the Chamber of Commerce of Genoa. The President, Luigi Attanasio, underlined the aim of strengthening bilateral ties between the two chambers and exploring new potentialities. H.E.Mr Paul Dühr, Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to Italy, who headed the economic trade mission organised by the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, illustrated the importance of the bilateral relations between the two countries in the external trade balance, where Italy ranks #6 in the exports before the United States and #7 in the imports.
An official dining reception in Villa Lo Zerbino, prepared with the support of the Luxembourg Consulate, concluded the first day, while giving Luxembourg participants the opportunity to continue their business networking with some high level local guests from the Genoese business community.
The birthplace of Christopher Colombus revolves around its port, the biggest in Italy, and the sea, to which it owes its wealth and reputation. The port of Genoa boasts a wide selection of specialised terminals, equipped to accommodate all classes of ships and cater for key commodity sectors: containers, general cargo, perishables goods, as well as steel, petroleum, ro-ro, bulk, cruise and ferry passengers. In addition, the port guarantees complementary services from ship maintenance and repair to customised telecommunication and data processing. The visit of the port by boat allowed the delegation to learn more about its potential: 30 specialised terminals handle over 70 million tons of cargo per year!
As part of this first trip of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce to Genoa, the delegation also visited the premises of Paul Wurth Italia, active for 13 years in Genoa. Paul Wurth Italia gathers long-lasting know-how and competences in the management of large turnkey projects for the construction of integrated plants, as well as in the execution of engineering and site supervision services, in the field of blast furnaces, coke making as well as direct reduction plants.
Turin, capital of the Piedmont Region, was the second destination of the economic mission. Turin also recognized as the industrial capital of Italy, is a manufacturing city with an economy based on the automobile industry. In this context, the delegation visited the headquarters of Pininfarina, the famous car design firm of international repute, designing since the 1980’s also high-speed trains, yachts, coffee machines, pens or buildings which showcased the evolution of its design history based on the values of purity, elegance and innovation.
In the evening, the delegates were welcomed at the Unione Industriale by the Honorary Consul of Luxembourg, Ettore Morone, for a networking reception bringing together some local 100 businessmen and women interested in establishing business ties with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
The following day, a seminar, dedicated to the presentation of the assets of the Luxembourg economy took place at the Congress Center of the Turin Chamber of Commerce. Some 30 local companies came to assess the potential of the Luxembourg economy for their business. After the official openings, Mrs. Sabrina Sagramola, Head of European Affairs at the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce and Manager of the Enterprise Europe Network, highlighted the open economy and the multiculturalism of the Grand Duchy. While presenting the different sectors in which the two countries could partner up, such as biotech, creative industries, ICT, space, or automotive, she insisted on the international business-friendly environment as well as on the research and knowledge-based economic diversification strategy pursued by the Luxembourg government.
After the tailored business meetings organised by the Turin Chamber of Commerce between Luxembourg and Piedmont’s companies, the economic programme of the afternoon included a parallel visit to the Environment Park of Turin, an innovation accelerator for businesses looking to use eco-efficient solutions to expand their markets, and to Lavazza, Italy’s famous coffee producer.
The Luxembourg delegation was impressed by the high level of creativity and innovation of the Italian economy. Fruitful business discussions ended up in further meetings planned either in Italy or Luxembourg, presumably evolving towards concrete and sustainable partnership bonds.
A boost in paving new ways between Luxembourg and Northern Italy is expected. Let’s conclude with Luigi Lavazza who stated “Coffee is always the beginning of something: a meeting, a break, a moment of sharing. This is why we’re simply saying see you later!”
