Credit: MECO

From 20 to 22 October 2025, Luxembourg’s Minister of the Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism, Lex Delles, is leading an official economic mission to the Netherlands, focused on strengthening cooperation in the strategic sectors of digital technology, innovative mobility, defence and energy to support Europe’s strategic autonomy.

According to the Ministry of the Economy, Minister Delles is accompanied by a delegation of 60 participants representing 33 companies and ten institutions. The Ministry noted that Luxembourg and the Netherlands maintain close economic cooperation, particularly within the Benelux framework, with the Netherlands ranking among Luxembourg’s “key economic partners, placing ninth in total trade in goods and services.”

According to the Ministry of the Economy, the mission began in Eindhoven with the Luxembourg-Netherlands Business Forum, attended by around 100 participants. Organised by the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with Hub Brussels and the Brabant Development Agency, and supported by the Luxembourg Embassy in The Hague, the event highlighted economic cooperation and innovation opportunities between the two countries.

Minister Lex Delles underlined the close ties between Luxembourg and the Netherlands, calling for stronger collaboration in key strategic sectors such as artificial intelligence, mobility, defence and energy. Fernand Ernster, President of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, emphasised the Chamber’s role in supporting the internationalisation of Luxembourg companies, while Eindhoven Mayor Jeroen Dijsselbloem stressed the shared ambition of both nations to build “a resilient and sovereign Europe.”

Mario Grotz, Director of Luxinnovation, and Edwin Kuipers, Senior Programme Lead at AI Coalition 4 NL, presented their respective AI Factories and discussed ways to accelerate AI adoption among start-ups and SMEs through the EuroHPC network.

In the afternoon, Minister Delles met Gerard Kleisterlee, former CEO of Philips and current Chairman of the Board of ASML, to discuss cooperation within the Benelux framework and Eindhoven’s innovation ecosystem. The minister and his delegation also visited the headquarters of VDL Group and NXP, two leading industrial and semiconductor players based in Brainport Eindhoven, to explore potential collaboration in electromobility, hydrogen, batteries, autonomous systems and Industry 4.0.

The first day concluded with a networking reception at the Philips Museum, a historic site symbolising the region’s long-standing tradition of innovation.

According to the Ministry of the Economy, the second day of the mission began with a visit to the Automotive Campus in Helmond, a leading innovation hub for smart and sustainable mobility. The visit included the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Automobility Incubator, Technoport Bissen and the Automotive Campus Helmond, marking a concrete step towards enhanced bilateral cooperation in intelligent mobility.

The delegation also met with several key players based on the campus, including VDL Enabling Transport Solutions (VDL ETS), The Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Mobility Applied Research Quarter (MARQ) and TASS International, discussing opportunities for collaboration in automated driving, battery technology, hydrogen and cybersecurity - areas aligned with Luxembourg’s strategic priorities.

Minister Delles later visited Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography (ASML), a global leader in lithography for advanced semiconductor manufacturing, where discussions focused on European technological sovereignty and cooperation in applied research. The day concluded with a visit to Sioux Technologies, a major high-tech company specialising in complex systems and embedded artificial intelligence (AI), to explore further collaboration in smart mobility, digital health and data innovation.

While the delegation led by the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce returned home on the evening of Tuesday 22 October 2025, Minister Delles continued to Rotterdam with a smaller delegation.