Luxembourg and Korea to establish Smart Green Business Centre

On 8 December 2020, South Korean Minister of SMEs and Start-ups Young-sun Park and Luxembourg Minister of the Economy Franz Fayot signed a Memorandum of Understanding covering the establishment of a Smart Green Business Centre in Luxembourg. The aim is to facilitate green and digital collaborative projects between SMEs and start-ups in the two countries.

Promoting sustainable growth and mitigating climate change are major priorities in both South Korea and Luxembourg. Cleantech is one of the priority sectors of Luxembourg’s data-driven innovation strategy, and the Korean government is actively supporting companies in the fields of smart mobility and green technologies. The Smart Green Business Centre (SGBC) to be set up in Luxembourg by ASEIC, a Korean eco-innovation centre under the country’s Ministry of SMEs and Startups, is therefore a natural connection between the two countries.

A European green business centre

ASEIC facilitates cooperation between Europe and Asia, and started in 2017 to analyse Denmark and Luxembourg as possible locations for its European centre. ASEIC visited Luxembourg several times. The contributions provided by Luxinnovation, the national innovation agency, and the support of the project expressed by the South Korean and Luxembourg Prime Ministers when they met in 2018, led ASEIC to finally choose Luxembourg.

“Once SGBC has been established in Luxembourg, it will help promising Korean SMEs and start-ups expand their markets to Europe through Luxembourg,” says Younhee Kim, Executive Director of the Luxembourg Trade & Investment Office in Seoul who has actively supported the initiative since the beginning. “It can also help European companies find projects in south-east Asia.”

Facilitating collaboration

SGBC will be set up in the context of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Minister Park and Minister Fayot. Managed by the Asia-Europe Meeting SMEs Innovation Centre and supported by Luxinnovation, its aim will be to facilitate green and digital collaborative projects between Luxembourg and Korean SMEs and start-ups with a view to identify and develop successful green business models. It will also facilitate joint research, technology transfer, marketing cooperation, the creation of joint ventures and the organisation of networking events.

“I am proud that we signed this MoU aimed at establishing a smart Green Business Centre Europe in Luxembourg to facilitate sustainable and digital collaborative projects among SMEs and start-ups of our two countries, with a common goal to promote green innovation and growth,” said Minister Fayot.

I am proud that we signed this MoU aimed at establishing a smart Green Business Centre Europe in Luxembourg.

“Luxembourg is the world’s number one powerhouse in terms of per capita GDP and labour productivity by developing connectivity and innovation capabilities with neighbouring countries,” commented Minister Park. “With Luxembourg as a bridgehead, we expect that competent Korean SMEs and start-ups will expand to Europe.”