Dear AMCHAM members, Partners and friends,
Two weeks ago on Saturday there was an excellent Memorial Day celebration at the American Military Cemetery in Hamm to remind ourselves of the sacrifices made by more than 5,000 World War II United States soldiers (and one female nurse) who lost their lives in the Battle of the Bulge and related events at the end of that war to restore democracy and freedom in Europe. Leading off with a flyover by two C130 aircraft stationed at Ramstein Air Force base in Germany, there were excellent and sincere speeches by Claude Wiseler, President of the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies, Yuriko Backes, Luxembourg Minister of Defense, our U.S. Ambassador Thomas Barrett and the Lieutenant General John D. Lamontagne, Deputy Commander of the United States Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa. All stressed the strength of the Trans-Atlantic alliance and the criticality of the US/European economic, military and political partnership to defend our shared way of life and continue to bring prosperity and freedom to our inhabitants. These leaders along with Paul Duhr, the Marechal of the Luxembourg Royal Court, then each placed flower tributes alongside already in place flower tributes from civic organizations including AmCham.
Enjoy the photos of the ceremony and the speech by Ambassador Barrett.
Very soon, political leaders will gather in France to likewise celebrate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. We all should remember that we stand tall and live good lives on the shoulders of those who sacrificed and bought our present prosperity and freedom with their sacrifices. As we make decisions today let us never forget the dangers which can so quickly come, if we do not remain strong and united together on both sides of the Atlantic. Just as a reminder, following and reinforcing this theme, AmCham.lu will be joined here in Luxembourg by our sister organization, the AmCham accredited to the EU Commission in Brussels for a mid-day event at Deloitte on 27 November presenting the 2024 analysis of transatlantic trade between the United States and Europe (with special focus on Luxembourg). Please watch this space and sign up to join us for this event when we open sign-ups in the fall.
This past week, the AmCham executive committee and I were very pleased to hold our annual Board Of Directors and Annual General Meetings at the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce. Our story of good news and success can be found in my Chairman’s remarks to the BoD. Please take the time to read this summary of how we are doing and what we have planned for the future.
Our feature interview this week focuses on the six most likely-to-be-elected candidates running for seats in the EU parliament which will take place on 9 June 2024. We have asked each of the strongest political candidate lists to explain who they are, their objectives if given mandates to serve and to identify the EU factions they will align themselves with. Our hope is that the citizen voters of Luxembourg will think seriously about the candidates and elect representative who will stand tall fighting for the best interests of Luxembourg.
On July 3rd, we had our ABAL lunch with the topic ‘Risks for the Fund Industry’, kindly sponsored by Marsh. We are excited to share with you some highlight pictures of this event here.
This past Tuesday evening, we hosted a town hall meeting of candidates sponsored and hosted by Amazon. See the photos of this event here. And please make sure to vote on 9 June!
With respect and very best wishes,
Paul Schonenberg
Chairman and CEO
AMCHAM.Lu
