- Hajime Miyamae, owner of the capital’s Kamakura restaurant, has been named a goodwill ambassador by Japan’s agriculture ministry. There are only 50 such cultural diplomats in the world. When it opened in 1988, Kamakura was Luxembourg’s first Japanese restaurant, and there were only 80 Japanese nationals living in the grand duchy.
- Average home prices have risen 2%-7% over the past year, according to the latest figures published by AtHome.lu (which provides the real estate listings on the Delano and Paperjam websites). The average price, nationally, to buy a new apartment rose 2% to €509,790, and for an existing apartment by 5% to €421,027. New house prices were up 2% to €691,984. Average monthly rent for a flat, across Luxembourg, was €1,378 and for houses €2,357.
- The average bank branch in Luxembourg serves 2,700 clients, compared to 9,000 in the Netherlands, according to Carlo Thill, chairman of the management board at BGL BNP Paribas. In an interview, he cited a Deloitte study that found client traffic at bank branches was down 25% across Europe. Staff in bank branches will increasingly become product specialists, Thill reckoned. He spoke with Paperjam after BGL BNP Paribas announced its 2016 financial results: the bank posted a net 13% increase in revenues last year.
- Autodis is building a new Hyundai showroom in Esch-Alzette, which will be the carmaker’s largest dealership (by surface area) in Europe, according to Marc Graas, Autodis CEO. It is expected to open in the spring of 2018. The Luxembourg company will then revamp showrooms for its other brands, which include Honda, Mitsubishi and Suzuki, among others.
- The motorway between the capital and the French border will be expanded from 2 to 3 lanes in each direction. Luxembourg’s cabinet approved the plan primarily to support increased lorry traffic in Bettembourg/Dudelange logistics zone, although thousands of French commuters use the highway daily.