Luxembourg has a very stable, high-income economy, low inflation (0.3% in April 2009), a solid annual growth rate (2.0% PIB growth in 2008) and a fairly low unemployment rate (5.2% - February 2009). Luxembourg began to develop as a financial centre in 1929 with the laws on holding companies and the creation of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
The country is located in the middle of Western Europe surrounded by Belgium, Germany and France. With 483 800 inhabitants including 42.5% of nationals from other countries, Luxembourg is a great cultural patchwork, comprising Portuguese, French, Italian, Belgian and German communities.
(sources : statec 2008 - www.statistiques.public.lu 2008)
1 - A highly strategic position in the heart of Europe.
2 - A neutral place which does not alter the corporate culture of multinational firms present in Luxembourg.
3 - A very welcoming and safe country, voted as the safest city in the world in 2008 by a Mercer Human Ressource Consulting survey.
4 - A financial healthy country with a high degree of economic prosperity and generally ranked as among the most competitive countries in the world for doing business.
5 - A skilled multilingual workforce, with more than 188 000 Belgian, French and German employees who live in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg or commute to Luxembourg. (source : Social Security of Luxembourg)
6 - A good logistical network with the 5th largest European Cargo Airport.
7 - Excellent basic infrastructure : 8 universities, 40 elite University colleges and international schools (totalling about 200,000 students), 10 world-renowned research centres, more than 20 museums, cinemas and theater and more than 20 hospitals.
8 - Top level financial and multinational IT cluster composed of 155 banks and 142 providers of financial services supported by strong IT and communication providers.
9 - Flexible and welcoming authorities open to dialogue.
10 - An attractive life style ranked as 4th for the Worldwide Quality-of-Life Index in 2005.
