Speaking on Tuesday 11 June, Frieden stressed the need to “think big”, maintain high ambitions for companies whose activities are often carried out abroad.

“The experience of a representative in embassies has been positive and it would be appropriate to provide such a representative in London in the post-Brexit perspective,” our colleagues at Paperjam reported Frieden as saying. “We will have to deal more with this market than in the past, we are looking at the practicalities.”

The Chamber of Commerce has had a permanent representation in Berlin since 2012, since 2014 in Paris and since 2016 in Brussels.

Frieden said that the next few months will also be devoted to the preparation of another important project to promote the “made in Luxembourg” brand at the Dubai 2020 Universal Exhibition, for which the Chamber of Commerce is one of three stakeholders with the government, alongside Post and SES.

More broadly, Frieden said that he had three key priorities for his mandate as president: training, digitisation and internationalisation. He highlighted the challenge companies face in attracting and retaining qualified personnel and having an internationally competitive legislative arsenal for robotics and blockchains.

“New technologies will provide many opportunities in the next 10 years,” he said, adding that international trade “should not be limited to a tweet from the American President”, but should be analysed from all angles, including the final impact on the consumer in the event of a tax increase.

Working groups have been set up to work on these topics with the sectors represented in the Chamber of Commerce.

 2025 Vision

The Chamber of Commerce's 2019-2025 strategy, which was adopted on 15 October 2018, is included in the 2018 annual report. Its vision for 2025 requires a commitment: “To support companies in their common interests and daily concerns and to create value for them and the economy as a trusted partner.”

To do this, Frieden wants the chamber to continue as a mouthpiece for the business community when it comes to new regulations and bills, but also to be more visible and present on other economic subjects and in the traditional and social media spheres.