26
27
UPFRONT
BUSINESS Jeremy Rifkin has presented a roadmap for the “Third Industrial Revolution”. Amid uncertainty surrounding the US elections, the vision of Rifkin, an American economist, is welcome reassurance that we are still on the right path. He addressed a full house at the Luxembourg Sustainability Forum 2016 to unveil the “Third Industrial Revolution” project, a 475-page roadmap for Luxembourg’s future. More than 300 people worked for one year to develop the strategy. “We are at a new stage in the journey,” Rifkin said. “We’re moving toward ‘Smart Europe’.” Luxembourg has become the first EU country to develop a comprehensive systematic plan across all sectors to make this journey. Indeed, it is the first EU member to receive European Investment Bank funds for its transformation into a sustainable country.
A
B
E
C
F
RIFKIN REPORT A. Étienne Schneider, Luxembourg’s deputy prime minister, and Jeremy Rifkin, an American economist, arrive at Luxexpo for the Luxembourg Sustainability Forum in November B. Serge Allegrezza of Statec speaks C. More than 800 people attended D. Christian Scharff, chair of IMS Luxembourg, which organises the conference E. Jeremy Rifkin speaks about his “Third Industrial Revolution” report F. Nicolas Schmit, Luxembourg’s labour minister www.delano.lu/Rifkin16
D
0.55
NASIR ZUBAIRI
Named CEO of the Luxembourg House of Fintech, a new publicprivate promotion outfit. www.lhoft.com Winter 2017
The number of points needed to spark a round of “indexation”, or automatic rises in salaries and pension payments. According to Statec, the inflation index was 831.29 points at the end of October 2016; indexation will occur will it exceeds 831.84 points. The last indexation increases were in October 2013, when the index stood at 820.24 points. www.statistiques.public.lu
Other institutions 15% European Court of Justice 16%
European Commission 31% WHERE THEY WORK
European Parliament 18%
European Investment Bank 20%
12,667
Number of EU civil servants employed in Luxembourg, representing around 2.5% of the Grand Duchy’s workforce.
Rifkin conference: reported by Tonya Stoneman, photography by Emmanuel Claude > Photo of Nasir Zubairi: Alfi > Employment figures: EU institution reports
A GREAT TRANSFORMATION