Dutch Royals visit Esch-Belval

On the second day of their state visit to Luxembourg, Their Royal Highnesses the King and Queen of the Netherlands visited the Belval site.

Today marked the visit of Their Royal Highnesses the King and Queen of the Netherlands, accompanied by the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, to the Esch-Belval site in the south of the Grand Duchy.

This visit began with a welcome from the Minister of Family and Integration and of the Greater Region, Corinne Cahen, next to the old industrial building Massenoire at the foot of the blast furnaces. The official delegation then walked to the blast furnaces, where they received explanations about the site’s operation as well as that of Belval in general and on the redevelopment of industrial sites.

The Dutch royal couple and the Grand-Ducal couple were then received by the Vice-Rector of the University of Luxembourg, Romain Martin, for a visit of the university’s new Learning Centre, which will open in September. This was followed by attendance of a presentation entitled "Space Resources Use: Luxembourg 's next big bet in Space", held at the Maison du savoir. The programme also included visits to various workshops in the field of space, including "Legal", "Private-public cooperation" and "Space Education", in the presence of professors, researchers and students from the University of Luxembourg, Leiden University and other private actors.

Following their Belval tour, Their Royal Highnesses the King and Queen of the Netherlands and the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg were welcomed by Prime Miniser Xavier Bettel at Vianden Castle for the inauguration of the exhibition "Relations: The Nassaus and Luxembourg". The guided tour was followed by an official luncheon hosted by Xavier Bettel on behalf of the government, in honour of both the Dutch and Luxembourg royal couples.

The royal guests and Luxembourg monarchs moved on to the Chamber of Commerce where they were welcomed by the Minister of the Environment Carole Dieschbourg, the Secretary of State for Infrastructure and Water Management of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Stientje van Veldhoven, and the President of the Chamber of Commerce, Michel Wurth. There they had the opportunity to attend a debriefing of the economic seminar "Luxembourg and the Netherlands: Together on the way to a circular economy" and to hold talks with representatives of Dutch and Luxembourg companies having participated in the economic seminar on the circular economy with a focus on the Smart City and Smart Mobility sub-themes.

This second day of the visit will end with a concert at the Philharmonie Luxembourg.