- The European Space Agency has signed on to the grand duchy’s Spaceresources.lu asteroid mining programme. The ESA and Luxembourg government inked a technical agreement to cooperate on technologies, operations and the use of space-based resources. Étienne Schneider, the LSAP deputy prime minister, said the deal enhanced the initiative’s credibility and would attract more international firms to Luxembourg.
- Estonia will open the world’s first “digital embassy” in Luxembourg. Under the accord, the Estonian government will store sensitive data in the grand duchy, at a data centre in Betzdorf that is currently used by the European Commission and Nato.
- Over the past 12 months, 350 bank employees have been made redundant, even though “the figures show that the [economic] recovery is well and truly here.” That’s according to Roberto Scolati, managing director of Aleba, a union representing bank staff. He was speaking in advance of upcoming contract talks.
- The Luxembourg and Shanghai stock exchanges will launch a joint index of renminbi-denominated green bonds.
- 6,380 Luxembourg nationals were cross-border commuters as of last year. 2,520 lived in Germany, 2,390 in Belgium and 1,470 in France.
Étienne Schneider, the economy minister (on right), shakes hands with Jan Woerner, director general of the European Space Agency, during the 2017 Paris Air Show, after Luxembourg’s government and the ESA agreed to cooperate on asteroid mining missions. This picture was published 20 June 2017 on Étienne Schneider’s Twitter account.