Vaccination campaign
The LuxExpo The Box exhibition and convention centre will contribute to boosting the vaccination campaign by hosting the country's largest vaccination centre in the next few days.
With the installation of 50 vaccination lanes in Halls 2 and 3, the maximum vaccination capacity of the Grand Duchy will increase from 35,000 to 95,000 people per week. After being approached by the Government last week, LuxExpo The Box and its shareholders - first and foremost the Chamber of Commerce and the City of Luxembourg - immediately responded favourably to the call for support.
Jos Sales, President of the LuxExpo Commission of the Chamber of Commerce, the majority shareholder of the company operating the exhibition and convention centre, recalled that, ‘beyond its original mission as an exhibition and convention centre working in the interests of the economy and its stakeholders, LuxExpo The Box has a long tradition of social commitment. Since 2015, the company has housed an emergency reception centre for migrants and refugees. In 2017, it helped to quickly bring the customers of the neighbouring shopping centre to safety during a bomb threat, and last year it housed one of the four emergency healthcare centres from March to June. We are delighted that the Government has decided to renew its collaboration with LuxExpo The Box in its battle against the health and economic crisis. LuxExpo's commitment beyond its primary mission as an exhibition and convention centre highlights its contribution to the well-being of Luxembourg society as a whole, which will also be a driving force for socio-economic progress during the recovery’.
Carlo Thelen, Director General of the Chamber of Commerce, highlighted that, ‘the economic challenges and crisis situations that Luxembourg has had to face in recent years show how important it is for our country to have a modern and flexible structure that can quickly be altered to provide large surfaces in response to emergency situations. Such a structure is, moreover, absolutely essential for the promotion of Luxembourg's economy and expertise and for the development of SMEs and the MICE sector (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions/Events). The renewed confidence of the political and health authorities reassures the Chamber of Commerce in its strategic choice to invest in the continuation and modernisation of LuxExpo The Box at its current site in Kirchberg’.
In 2020, the Chamber of Commerce initiated a proceeding for an increase in capital, to which almost all shareholders of LuxExpo The Box* have already adhered. The capital increase of EUR 1.5 million aims to support and strengthen the capacity of the exhibition and convention centre to act as a major player in the promotion and economic development of Luxembourg. The new capital will be invested in the renewal of equipment, the acquisition of innovative technological solutions and a restructuring of the range of services to meet the increasingly specialised and high expectations of a national and international clientele, who are now requesting hybrid solutions enabling them to organise their events both face-to-face and digitally. To organise this new type of ‘phygital’ event, new organisational and human solutions will be put in place.
Morgan Gromy, CEO of LuxExpo The Box, stated that he was, ‘extremely proud to be able to contribute, with our infrastructure and our 37 employees, to leading the country out of the crisis and to finally allowing the resumption of normal life and the revival of economic activities. It is worth putting our potential events for the coming months on hold’.
*LuxExpo The Box is held by the Chamber of Commerce (56.6%), the City of Luxembourg (17.81%), BCEE (7.7%), BIL (4.98%), and a number of minority shareholders (ArcelorMittal, BGL, the Chamber of Skilled Trades and Crafts, Chambre des Salariés, ING, Quintet)
( Joint press release by the Chamber of Commerce and LuxExpo The Box)