Last week was a very busy week for us here at AmCham!
On Monday morning, AmCham Treasurer and EXCO member Gareth Reynolds and I drove at 7 a.m. to Brussels to attend the two-day annual AmChams in Europe Spring conference which started at 11:00 in the morning and was hosted by AmCham EU, which has as its mission monitoring and engaging with the European Commission. It was a great conference with almost 300 attendees including representatives from over half of the 45 American Chambers of Commerce located in Europe and Asia.
Please note the cover photo of Gareth and me with Susan Danger, the CEO of AmCham EU and see the large photo with all of the participants from the various AmChams and the direct staff of AmCham EU itself which accompanies the article about the event itself later on in this Newsletter.
Gareth and I were particularly pleased to have the occasion to meet and talk with the EMEA Heads from both Cisco and Goodyear, the European Head for Boeing (who also serves as the Chairman of AmCham EU), the US Ambassador to the EU, to listen to the US Minister of Commerce and to hear the presentation by the two John Hopkins University Professors who presented the 2024 Transatlantic Trade and Investment report, which AmCham LU is proud to sponsor along with four other AmChams across Europe. We look forward to presenting a Transatlantic conference here in Luxembourg at Deloitte on 27 November 2024 at lunch time. Please mark your calendars, make sure you register and join us.
Thursday evening after our return, I joined the ING CEO for Luxembourg, Michael Burch, his Head of Marketing and his Head of Human Resources as we all participated in the first ever ‘Take Back The Night’ event (see the photos here) which saw attendees don orange T-shirts at ING HQ by the Gare, hear four speeches focused on raising awareness on the subject of Violence against Women and then symbolically march together to the Glacis where we were awaited by four food trucks and a Disc jockey playing good music. The event was organized by City Savvy CEO (and AmCham member!), Amanda Roberts joined by an energetic mostly female crowd of almost 200 participants, the majority of whom donated 16 Euro each to buy the commemorative T-shirts and tote bags and to make a charitable donation to the Luxembourg based Femmes en détresse charity organization, which supports women victims of violence. Michael Burch, the ING CEO, gave a particularly moving speech recounting the very personal situation he and his wife experienced when she was the victim of inappropriate behavior perpetrated by a man during a bus ride. AmCham was pleased to publicize this event and approximately 30 AmCham affiliated persons attended. We believe that any form of violence against Women, Men, Children of both genders, the elderly, the LGBTQ community and/or anyone else is absolutely unacceptable!
Friday, I was pleased to pay a courtesy call on Claude Wiseler, the Presidents of the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies, who very generously spent over an hour discussing with me the concerns of the International Community which AmCham is proud to hold as members and advocate on behalf of. I have known Mr Wiseler for quite some years now and was happy to have this opportunity to meet and discuss with him.
This week, we have just finished yesterday a DORA lunch time event at Baker McKenzie. This ABAL lunch time event was very well presented as a public courtesy! Thank you Baker McKenzie!!!
With respect and our very best wishes,
Paul Schonenberg
Chairman and CEO
AMCHAM.lu
