
Dear AmCham Members, Partners and Friends!
In addition to our most recent AmCham event, our well-received New Year’s reception the week before last, I have been quite busy focusing on our upcoming events, moving forward with the considerable work to be done on our affordable micro housing project for single working professionals and, most pressingly, discussing and explaining the outcome and future consequences now that Mr. Trump has been reelected President of the United States.
I understand that there is a lot of confusion, some fear and considerable misunderstandings about where things are and where things are going. I honestly believe that the United States has been, is and will remain the very best partner and friend of Luxembourg. But I also believe that we are not well-served by the news media which often focuses on exploiting sound bites that stoke fear rather than inform in a measured way. I recently did an evening presentation for Letzpact which was well received to explain the US election system and the outcome of the election on 5 November. That presentation has been turned into a part 1 and part 2 video series which can be found here.
Likewise, I encourage all of you to consider registering for and joining the excellent upcoming event being put on by Geoff Thompson from the Chronicle which will focus on Luxembourg heritage people living in the Midwest of the United States and Luxembourg firms selling Luxembourg products to that audience. The US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires, Michael Konstantino and I will both be involved in that evening event. Details can be found here. I hope to see and talk with you at this event!
During the past several weeks, in this newsletter, we have published several YouTube video interviews from Victor David Hansen, a very well-respected US academic from California who presents very well thought through political analysis. Here and here we re-present those two videos and encourage you to watch them. If you want more information, we likely will be publishing additional videos presenting his excellent analysis in the future, or you can research and find his many other YouTube videos online.
Returning back to business issues in our Luxembourg ecosystem, our interview this week is with Dr. Michael Burch, the CEO of ING Luxembourg. For many years ING has been a pillar of the banking structure in Luxembourg. This past year, ING found itself in the news because it initiated a program of internal restructuring which caused it to withdraw from some banking activities with some of its former customers. I am very honored and pleased to give the ING CEO, who I consider a personal friend, an opportunity to tell his and ING story about who they are, why they have made business model changes, and where they are going in the future. Thank you, Dr. Burch, for giving us this interview!
When I was a boy in New York over a half century ago, my friends and I fell in love with the motivational poem Desiderata. We much discussed and committed to follow the advice imbedded in that poem as we went about living our lives. I have followed this path during my life journey as best I have been able. Of course, I have not been perfect, but I have always come back and always have tried my best. I consider this poem to be very good advice and am pleased to share it with you all below in this newsletter. I hope you will like it. I will be pleased if you consider it worthy to follow and pass along to your friends and family networks!
I assume you all have by now recovered from your New Year’s parties. Likewise, I expect you are also finished joining the many excellent New Year’s receptions held by so many organizations and companies here in Luxembourg. On that basis, you may be ready for a really good Gala Dinner and Dance party! If I am right about this, I warmly invite you to join our AmCham Carnival party on 28 February! This will be the third year we will be putting on this event, and each year we have succeeded to make it better than the year before! You can wear a tuxedo, a costume or dress all-in-black, but wear comfortable sneakers or shoes because you will be doing a lot of dancing to the music of Marco Boesen and his team! The food will be two buffets of all-you-can eat Asian and party food… along with plenty of wine and other drinks! We will have the fun photo booth for lots of pictures with your friends! Parking is free, the ticket prices are comfortably affordable, and the Hilton is offering a reduced-price room with breakfast for you (and your date!), Single room €100 / Double room €110 with breakfast & parking.
You can also secure your room directly by booking on this link; https://www.hilton.com/en/book/reservation/rooms/
Tickets are on sale now and we expect a wonderful sold-out event. So, use the link for the event which follows and register now! Team AmCham will be happy to see you there!
As always, team AmCham appreciates and thanks you for your membership and partnership! Thank you for letting us serve you! It is our mission and pleasure to fight to explain and advocate to secure your fair treatment and best interests! If you need us, always feel free to contact me at: Paul@AmCham.lu. And, don’t forget to introduce us to your partners and friends so we can bring them into our AmCham family!
With all respect, appreciation and kindest regards,
Paul Schonenberg
Chairman and CEO
AmCham.lu