/ / /
BUSINESS
Balkan TV news channel to launch from Luxembourg base
Adria News, a subsidiary of United Group, a cable TV and Internet provider, plans to launch N1, a 24-hour multilingual news channel targeting Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo. N1, which has a partnership agreement to use regional CNN content, will set up headquarters in Luxembourg and production offices in Belgrade, Sarajevo and Zagreb. Programming decisions and finance functions will be carried out in the Grand Duchy.Adria News, which is backed by private equity firm Mid Europa Partners, expects to receive a broadcasting licence from the Luxembourg government in the next couple of months.
Read more
MORE NEWS
- Ground has been broken on the future International Can factory in the Echternach industrial zone, which will produce aluminium containers for aerosol sprays and equipment to fill them for the cosmetics and hygiene industry. The €30 million investment by Germany's Maxim group is expected to create around 180 jobs and the facility will reach full production next year.
- Live Gamer, a New York-based provider of e-commerce platform services to video game publishers and developers, has established a Luxembourg subsidiary with offices in Bertrange, just beyond Luxembourg City. Live Gamer serves firms including Facebook, Condé Nast, Sony Online and Take-Two Interactive and reaches 60 million users worldwide. Luxembourg is the group's first entry into Europe, a fast-growing market for the company’s services.
- The number of salaried employees in Luxembourg grew by 0.6% in the second quarter, thanks notably to a 1.6% rise in the business-to-business services sector. The country's employment growth significantly beats the eurozone overall, where the number of salaries employees declined by 0.1% during the quarter.
- The government, ArcelorMittal management and trade unions have agreed to set up working groups to examine ways to make the group's steelworks and other operations in Luxembourg more competitive.
- Over the past eight years, Luxembourg's logistics sector – encouraged by the government to reduce the country's economic dependence on financial services – has swelled into an industry with 780 firms and 13,000 employees.
PUBLIC POLICY
Luxembourg among world's best for technological readiness
Luxembourg has been ranked 2nd for technological readiness, 5th for the efficiency of its goods market and 18th for innovation out of 148 economies around the world in the latest Global Competitiveness Report compiled by the World Economic Forum. The Grand Duchy also was ranked in the top 10 countries worldwide in areas including intellectual property rights, absence of corruption and corporate governance standards.Overall, Luxembourg has retained 22nd place in the WEF's ranking of the most competitive countries, based on 100 indicators, leapfrogging France, which fell from 21st place to 23rd.
Read more
MORE NEWS
- Consumer confidence in all aspects of Luxembourg's economic prospects increased in August. Expectations of the general economic outlook and households' ability to save improved significantly, while fears about unemployment declined.
- Fitch Ratings has affirmed Luxembourg's long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings at AAA with a stable outlook, Country Ceiling at AAA and short-term foreign currency IDR at the highest level. The agency cites Luxembourg's favourable macroeconomic dynamics compared with other eurozone countries; its GDP growth was almost 1% higher than the average last year, a trend Fitch expects to continue over the medium term.
INNOVATION
4G telecoms operator prepares for Luxembourg launch
JOIN Wireless, which has received approval as a provider of 4G telecommunications services from the Luxembourg Regulatory Institute, plans to recruit some 100 staffers for the launch of its European operations, including sales, legal and technical positions. Four managers have been hired to assist in the recruitment process, while related company Exigo will provide other services.JOIN Wireless and three existing operators received authorisation to use part of the 2.6 GHz spectrum from communications minister Luc Frieden in July. The company plans to launch operations bundling IT and telecoms services before the end of this year.
Read more
MORE NEWS
- Clinical staff members from Qatar Biobank have attended a course on principles of biobanking for clinical, biological and environmental biospecimens and bioresources, co-organised by the Integrated Biobank of Luxembourg and the University of Luxembourg.
- SES has showcased two Ultra HD demo channels in the new high efficiency video coding standard with industry partners at the IBC 2013 trade fair, as well broadcasting the Ultra HD channels at its 19.2 degrees East orbital position.
- P&T subsidiaries Victor Buck Services, which specialises in the digitisation of documents, and Learch (Luxembourg e-Archiving) have created a single operating platform as the first step toward a full merger at the beginning of next year.
- Global tungsten carbide product specialist Ceratizit has signed an agreement with the government for the financing of a project to improve the energy efficiency of its Mamer site.
QUALITY OF LIFE
Competition boosts range of Luxembourg air links
Following EasyJet's announcement that it would begin flights between Luxembourg and Lisbon in December, Luxair has decided to launch its own direct three-times a-week service to the Portuguese capital starting Spring 2014, saving travellers from having to change in Munich to an onward Lufthansa flight. The Luxembourg-Lisbon route is also served by TAP Portugal. Luxair is also adding a fifth weekly flight to Oporto at the end of November.The national airline will also resume flights to Dublin and is adding a new route to Stockholm, as well as a second weekly flight to Copenhagen.
Read more
MORE NEWS
- Luxembourg's population has been ranked 19th in the World Happiness Report 2013, compiled by experts from the Earth Institute at New York's Columbia University, Canada's University of British Columbia and the London School of Economics. The report examines aspects of happiness including material development, mental health, values and the role of public policy in promoting people's well-being.
- Although only a minority of EU citizens show any interest in cross-border purchases, the EU Commission reports that Luxembourg is an exception. More than 60% of all consumers said last year they would be ready to buy products from other countries.
- The number of multimillionaires in Luxembourg has grown over the past year from 600 to 655 (roughly one in every 800 people), with combined wealth of €49bn, according to the World Ultra Wealth Report compiled by Wealth-X and UBS.
CULTURE
New legislation aims to promote role of artists in Luxembourg
Culture Minister OctavieModert has presented draft legislation to parliament defining the status of artists in Luxembourg, reforming social security rules applicable to non-salaried artists, and setting out measures to encourage artistic creation. The bill will significantly amend existing law governing practitioners of art and culture dating from 1999.The legislation covers education, training and qualifications, and makes it easier for individuals to undertake artistic pursuits professionally at the same time as pursuing a licensed business activity.
Read more
MORE NEWS
- Luxembourg City's musical and other arts festivals make it one of Europe's cultural metropolises, says economic and business publication Wirtschaft.
Powered by VitalBriefing.
The content of this newsletter is prepared by VitalBriefing, based on content published on official and independent web sites. Luxembourg for Business declines all responsibility for the use of information featured in this document, for its accuracy, completeness or timeliness, or for the functioning of links to external web sites.
/ Luxembourg for Business
19-21,BoulevardRoyal L-2449Luxembourg Tel:+352247-84116
UnsubscribeSubscribe