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CULTURE - RAZVAN-PETRU RADU
As the Romania Luxemburg Business Forum (RomLux) celebrates 15 years of promoting economic relationships between the two countries, president Razvan-Petru Radu discusses its main achievements and upcoming cultural and business events.
To start with: are there any special historical connections between Romania and Luxembourg? Certainly. The two countries have had diplomatic relations for 160 years, and Luxembourg City and Sibiu in Romania were joint European capitals of culture in 2007.
Indeed, Sibiu is a city in Transylvania that is very much linked to Luxembourg. Many Luxembourgers migrated to the region, and there are still people there who speak a dialect of Luxembourgish! There are even towns in Transylvania built like villages in the Moselle.
Can you tell us more about RomLux? Our organisation was founded in 2007, the same year Romania joined the EU. It started with 35 members and now has over 125 members. We bring people, companies and organisations together from both countries.
It’s a community of passionate professionals. Everybody is a volunteer, and RomLux’s events, innovation missions and conferences are thanks to people’s involvement and open hearts.
RomLux has organised over 100 events in 15 years. What are some other major achievements? We put Luxembourg on the map in Romania, opening the grand duchy to innovators in Romania and promoting Luxembourg as a gateway to Europe and the world. The opportunities and startup ecosystem in the grand duchy are relatively unknown, so we’ve focused on communicating these offers.
In addition, we’ve organised several events to increase awareness of Romania, such as a roadshow for Romanian venture capitalists or an art exhibition featuring LuxembourgishAmerican artist Edward Steichen and Romanian artist Constantin Brancusi. Last year, we hosted a webinar to promote Luxair’s new LuxembourgBucharest route. The direct line encourages sustainable business and cultural connections.
And earlier this year, RomLux received the accreditation for bilateral business clubs in Luxembourg or abroad (CCBL) from the Chamber of Commerce of Luxembourg.
Are there Romanian companies that have benefitted from opportunities in Luxembourg? One of the best examples is Finqware, a company that provides open banking. The founder came to ICT Spring [a global technology conference in Luxembourg] in 2018 with just an idea. Now Finqware is accredited by the National Bank of Romania to operate payments. It’s also approved by the [financial watchdog] Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier in Luxembourg. EmailTree is another member of RomLux. They use artificial intelligence to automate answers to emails. The company benefits fully from the bridge between the two countries--EmailTree started in Luxembourg but works with an IT team in Romania. It exploits the best of both worlds!
Any plans for the future?
During our innovation mission to Bucharest on 21-24 November, we will bring a delegation from Luxembourg to discover Romanian entrepreneurs.
A concert at the Philharmonie featuring Luxembourgish and Romanian musicians to celebrate the 15th anniversary of RomLux is planned for 29 November.
And in March 2023, we’re organising a roadshow for Romanian blue-chip companies. Together with the Luxembourg and Romania stock exchanges, we aim to present several companies listed in Bucharest to investors in Luxembourg.
But we’re always having events--fundraising events, football tournaments or the international bazaar, to mention just a few!
