International Affairs
On 13th of October 2017, the Chamber of Commerce of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, in cooperation with the Union des Entreprises Luxembourgeoises (UEL) and Institut National pour le Développement Durable et la Responsabilité Sociale des Entreprises (INDR) welcomed a Japanese delegation from the Tokyo Employers’ Association, headed by Hiroyoshi Usui.
This visit was part of a study trip to the United Kingdom, Ireland and Luxembourg, organised by the Tokyo Employers’ Association in order to learn more about the current state of each country's economy and the human resources management tools and techniques to enhance companies’ competitiveness. The delegation was composed of 10 participants, mainly managers in charge of personnel and general affairs in member companies of the Tokyo Employers’ Association.
The Tokyo Employers’ Association counts 1300 members companies and works under the umbrella of KEIDANREN, the Japan Business Federation. Japan is facing a decrease in population. By 2050, the number of inhabitants which actually amounts to 126 million people is expected to drop to 80 million. Besides, Japan also has one of the highest proportion of non-active population in the world. That is why companies are already looking for innovative solutions to face these challenges, and it is in that context that the study trip was organised.
During the delegation’s visit in Luxembourg, the Chamber of Commerce organised a round-table with the counterpart associations of the Tokyo Employers’ Assiocation, namely the Union des Entreprises Luxembourgeoises, the Institut National pour le Développement Durable et la Responsabilité Sociale des Entreprises as well as representatives of ING Luxembourg, Stéphanie Deitz, HR Account Manager, CSR & Diversity Coordinator and Sodexo On-site Services, Ann De Jonghe, Director, Human Resources at. Also two on-site visits were prearranged.
After welcoming the guests, Jeannot Erpelding, Director of International Affairs at the Chamber of Commerce introduced the Luxembourg economy and the bilateral economic relations that already exist between Japan in Luxembourg.
After that, Jean-Jacques Rommes, Managing Director of the UEL briefly introduced the Union des Entreprises Luxembourgeoises, its missions, vision, core competences and main challenges. Established in June 2000 as a non-profit organization, the UEL, the umbrella organisation of employers, aims to promote the development of the national economy and to ensure the competitiveness of Luxembourg companies. Natural competences of the UEL include social security, labour regulations, economy & competitiveness, fiscal policy, administrative simplification and the representation of employer’s interests in the social dialogue on a national level (Tripartite, CES, CNS, etc.). The main concerns of the UEL are to ensure a sustainable growth and the next generations’ interests. In that context, topics that are discussed at UEL level are, among others: competitiveness & attractiveness, housing, pension system, work-life balance issues, social dialogue, digitalisation, social security expenditures.
After his presentation, Norman Fisch, Secretary General of the INDR introduced the Institut National pour le Développement Durable et la Responsabilité Sociale des Entreprises. Created 10 years ago, the main mission of the INDR is to promote corporate social responsibility as a strategic tool for developing business in a sustainable manner. The INDR wants to ensure an institutional dialogue and visibility for corporate social responsibility as well as promote best practices. It has set up a label and a guide for becoming “Entreprise socialement responsable (ESR)”. In 10 years, more than 1000 companies have already been informed and 130 currently hold the ESR label, among them ING, Sodexo and ArcelorMittal. Norman presented the different steps to follow in order to get the label and mentioned that INDR recently launched the first association of ESR professionals in Luxembourg. Its members will gather to discuss economic, social and environmental topics that are the 3 pillars of CSR.
Ann De Jonghe, Director, Human Resources at Sodexo On-site Services presented briefly Sodexo in Luxembourg, its CSR strategy and HR strategy. Then Stéphanie Deitz, HR Account Manager, CSR & Diversity Coordinator at ING briefly explained the HR strategy of ING and emphasized the importance of work-life balance as well as the way ING promotes women.
The Japanese participants were really interested and asked many questions. They were particularly interested in diversity management (promotion of active participation of women, non-nationals, diversity of employment patterns, etc.) ; work-life balance and flexible working ; improvement of corporate competitiveness and efforts of innovation and employment conditions of older people.
Following these presentations, the group had the chance to visit the kitchen of the Chamber of Commerce, as an example of a site where Sodexo is active. The purpose of this “on-site visit” was to see a practical example of how a company holding the ESR label is organised. This was followed by a networking lunch. In the afternoon, the delegation visited the ArcelorMittal site in Esch-Belval. Valérie Massin, Country Manager & HR Coordinator Luxembourg at ArcelorMittal Luxembourg presented the ArcelorMittal HR policy before the factory visit of the Esch-Belval site, which is specialised in research and development of heavy long products and produces low cost and sustainable structural long products.
For further information about this visit, feel free to contact the team in charge at International Affairs: japan2017@cc.lu - T: +352 42 39 39-481/364
Contact persons: Violaine Mathurin/Na Shi.