Luxembourg is a unique place to live and do business in Europe. From the origins of the industrial development in Luxembourg, the availability of a cross-border workforce and the attraction of foreign capital and know-how have been the base of the economic success and the high standard of living in Luxembourg. The issue of attracting foreign investors exists in Luxembourg since the 1870’s, when the German steel industry has established itself. The oil crisis of 1973 hit the Luxemburgish economy hard, especially the steel industry. The foreign investment shifts from the industrial sector to the finance and services sector , developing one modern financial centre. Even though Luxembourg has a very small internal market, it has developed its economy based on a crossborder market. Today, the Luxembourgish economy is still centred on services , focussing primarily on the financial sector. The objective of the government is to guarantee the attractiveness, competitiveness and growth of the Luxemburgish economy. The Luxembourgish economy is very open to foreign investment. In the corporate world, almost 75% of the creators of enterprises are foreigners. In 2012, the global foreign direct investment amounted to 90.149 million Euros from which 22.480 million Euros (24,9%) came from non-EU countries. The promotion of Luxembourg as a host country for foreign investment and as an export country is one of the main objectives of the governmental programme 2013-2018 and this will be based on the concept of “Nation branding” . A systematic approach will be established to measure, establish and manage Luxembourg’s reputation. The government policy intends to focus on attracting and developing high added value activities focussed on the following sectors: industry, Eco technologies, logistics, health technologies (biomedicine and bio technologies), information and communication technologies, maritime clusters and research. Furthermore, it is a priority to attract corporate headquarters and start-ups in innovative technologies with highly added value. In Luxembourg, the amended law of 29 August 2008 on free movement of persons and immigration does not provide a definition for immigrant investors or immigrant business owners. A third-country national investor can either receive a residence permit as a self-employed worker or a residence permit for private reasons. Which one of both residence permits the applicant receives is dependent of whether s/he wants to actively work in the company s/he invests in or whether s/he wants to be a passive investor.
Admitting Third-Country Nationals for Business Purposes
