Chambres de Commerce - International
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On April 13th, Carlo Thelen, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce welcomed an official delegation from Henan Province, headed by the Executive Vice-Governor, Mr. SUN Shougang. This is the first “post-Covid” delegation that the Chamber of Commerce received from China, and the delegation has also chosen Luxembourg as its destination for its first trip outside of China since three and half years that were marked by the pandemic.
This high-level delegation was composed of 13 members, including the Henan Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Henan Provincial Commerce Department, Administration of Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone, as well as HNCA (Henan Civil Aviation Development & Investment Group), shareholder of Cargolux. The newly nominated Senior Official and Political Counselor, Ms. Wang Yuan and the First Secretary, Political Section Ms. Liu Jingdong of the Embassy of China to Luxembourg accompanied the delegation for the visit.
Since Cargolux and HNCA established a partnership, Luxembourg and Henan haven’t stopped growing their bilateral relations in both trade and investment. “We have already welcomed many delegations from Henan Province, including very high-level visits of the former Vice-Governor in August 2017, and the Secretary of Henan Province CPC, Mr. WANG Guoshen in July 2018”, Mr. Thelen mentioned.
The Chamber of Commerce has signed an MoU with both Henan CCPIT (China Council for the Promotion of International Trade) and HNCA, together with the two trustable partners, the “Henan – Luxembourg Air Silk Road Forum” and b2b events were organized jointly in Luxembourg and in Zhengzhou alternatively since 2017. This flagship event, integrated in China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’, offers Henan and Luxembourg companies a premium platform to do business together. This yearly Forum has already allowed the Chamber of Commerce to bring more than 60 Luxembourg companies to visit Henan, between 2017 and 2019.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr. Thelen stated, “I had to participate in the Forum digitally, due to travel restrictions. I really hope to visit Henan soon.”
Amongst the program of the Vice-governor’s two day-stay in Luxembourg, a meeting at Banque Internationale à Luxembourg took place where an MoU was signed between BIL and HNCA. With the potential cooperation projects between the province and diverse financial institutions including but not limited to Luxembourg for Finance and Luxembourg Stock Exchange, the Luxembourg financial sector joined the transport and logistics, automotive, food and beverage, and e-commerce to collaborate with Henan, the biggest province and logistics hub in central China.
The delegation also visited Cargolux’s new Headquarter and met the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Mobility and Public Works, Minister Francois Bausch.
Next edition of “Henan – Luxembourg Air Silk Road Forum” will be held in December 2023 in Luxembourg.
