Chamber of Commerce
It is with sadness that the Chamber of Commerce learned that Mr. Jean-Claude Vesque. former Head of Foreign Trade at the Chamber of Commerce, passed away last Saturday in his home in Limpertsberg.
Jean-Claude Vesque leaves his colleagues and friends with many great memories, as they still remember the words by which he had invited them to his retirement celebration held on 8th of July 2016 : « Toute chose commence un jour et par la force des choses finit un beau jour »
Born on 23rd of June 1954, Jean-Claude Vesque studied at the Lycée des Garçons in Luxembourg, before graduating in 1979 with a Master in Business Administration from the Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
On July 1, 1997, Jean-Claude Vesque was hired by the Chamber of Commerce to head its foreign trade service. A first milestone was set in 2000 with the organization of LUXASIA, an international matchmaking event aimed at developing business relations and strengthening the economic ties between Luxembourg, the Greater Region and Asia. Delegations from 12 Asian countries gathered at Kirchberg and got a glimpse of the business opportunities Luxembourg and its bordering region had to offer. The event became a success because it was organized in a true team spirit.
In 2004, Jean-Claude Vesque convinced the former Minister of the economy Jeannot Krecké and his Directorate of Investments and Foreign Trade, to follow him into the quickly expanding market of the Middle East. This decision was followed by numerous internationalization activities in Dubai, Qatar or Lebanon and led to setting up an economic representation in Abu Dhabi.
With his fine nose for business opportunities, he quickly focused his interest on China and Taiwan. He became the chef d’orchestre behind countless trade delegations and business events aiming at establishing strong economic ties with these two countries, When the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce took the lead in organizing the Luxembourgish presence at World Expo Shanghai in 2010, Jean-Claude Vesque organized a highly successful business matchmaking event. The “Luxembourg Commercial Week” in Shanghai became indeed one of the biggest trade promotion efforts in Luxembourg’s history. More than 100 Luxembourgish discussed business development opportunities with more than 1.000 Chinese businesses.
Jean-Claude also passionately committed to the development of “Luxembourg for business”, the agency for the promotion of Luxembourg investment and trade. A commitment marked by strong convictions and a relentless fighting spirit for the ideas he believed in.
The last project Jean-Claude Vesque took on before his retirement was the development of a foreign trade strategy into African countries. He took great pleasure in commenting every new step taken on African markets and even if he wasn’t convinced that it was possible to repeat the Asian success story in Africa, he seized each opportunity to develop bilateral trade relations. Jean-Claude Vesque retired in June 2016.
With Jean-Claude Vesque the Chamber of Commerce has lost a devoted colleague and a friend who always had a trade delegation memory to share, an experience to pass on or a recommendation to give.
As one of his colleagues rightly stated, he loved to travel, he loved to talk about his trips and he loved to share his memories of them. On Saturday he embarked on his last and longest trip.
The management and all the active and retired staff of the Chamber of Commerce offer their most sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.