China Construction Bank, China’s second largest bank by assets, announced its decision to open a subsidiary and a branch in Luxembourg.

The announcement followed talks in Luxembourg between Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, Finance Minister Luc Frieden and CCB Chairman Wang Hongzhang.

The statement said the Chinese bank had decided to open in Luxembourg due to the country's stable economic environment, the great quality of the regulatory framework and financial services. With this opening, China Construction Bank will follow other leading Chinese banks such as ICBC and Bank of China that are already established in Luxembourg from where they operate a European network.

Luxembourg's Embassy in Turkey has launched a newsletter containing information about political, economic and cultural developments in Luxembourg, as well as bilateral relations and upcoming events.

The new diplomatic mission in the country's capital, Ankara, was inaugurated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean Asselborn, on 29 November 2011. At the opening he stated “We are present in Turkey because it makes political and economic sense. I have long been convinced that Luxembourg could not stay away from a country of the importance of Turkey, a candidate to EU, a leading political actor and an economic powerhouse.”

Those interested in receiving this newsletter can sign up at http://ankara.mae.lu.

Bettembourg, 14 September 2012 –CFL cargo and CFL Multimodal, in cooperation with the Turkish company MARS Logistics, are launching a combined shuttle train between Bettembourg (Luxembourg) and Trieste (Italy). These trains transport goods that arrive from Turkey by sea and thus connect the European and Asian continents. The first train has done a first round-trip to Trieste and back this week and is scheduled for its second run tomorrow morning.

With three round-trips per week, the train will transport mega-trailers with goods originating from various inland locations in Turkey. After arriving in Trieste via ship from the Turkish ports of Istanbul, Izmir and Mersin, the trailers continue via train and through the Bettembourg multimodal terminal to various destinations in Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, France, Germany and vice-versa. CFL Multimodal is the operator of the new shuttle train, while CFL cargo provides haulage on the German and Luxembourgish segments of the route.

From origin to final destination, each trailer will travel more than 2,500 kilometres. With about 10,000 mega-trailers scheduled to be transported during the first year, the train will significantly contribute to the reduction of road congestion. It will also enable a reduction of CO2 of 13,000 tonnes representing a reduction of 75% of CO2 emissions in comparison with the equivalent transport via road.

Upon arrival at the CFL Multimodal terminal in Bettembourg, the trailers are unloaded and the goods are delivered to the final customer. Thanks to its extensive infrastructure and the wide range of its service offering, CFL Multimodal can provide full-service logistics solutions, including cross-docking, partial shipments, grouping, warehousing and distribution on behalf of MARS Logistics.

This project is receiving funding from the European Union's funding programme Marco Polo.

Mr. Garip SAHILLIOGLU, CEO of MARS Logistics, adds: "The new train shuttle enables MARS Logistics to expand its European business. By consolidating our merchandise flows into a shuttle train from Trieste to Bettembourg, we increase the efficiency of our distribution in Europe, while at the same time reducing the CO2 emissions."

Mr. Fraenz BENOY, Managing Director of CFL Multimodal, explains: "Thanks to the ideal geographic location of the Bettembourg terminal in the heart of Europe and its 30-year experience in multimodal transport, CFL Multimodal is able to fulfil the expectations of international players, such as MARS Logistics, and to contribute to the diversification of the Luxembourg economy. This project is a perfect fit for the strategy of developing Luxembourg and the surrounding regions as a European logistics hub."

Mr. Fernand RIPPINGER, CEO of CFL cargo, states: "The aim of our development strategy is to offer our international clients a door-to-door logistics service. We are able to do this thanks to the cooperation with our subsidiaries, our sister-company CFL Multimodal and our partners in other countries and on other continents."

About MARS Logistics

MARS Logistics Group is a well-established corporate logistics company providing clients a large selection of import-export operations, road, air, sea and rail freight, customs clearance, insurance and logistics solutions, with a professional and integrated approach.
The group includes MARS Logistics International Freighting Warehousing Distribution, MARS Air and Sea Cargo and MARS Insurance companies.
Mars Logistics is proud to operate one of Turkey's biggest fleets with 1000 self-owned trailers, to be one of the top 3 rail forwarders in Turkey, and to be on the Top 10 IATA List as airfreight forwarder since 2007.
MARS Logistics, together with its sister companies, employs a professional workforce of more than 850 employees, owns a strong infrastructure and an excellent communication network, all of which enable the company to implement its full-service policy.

About CFL Multimodal

First multimodal operator in Luxembourg, CFL Multimodal offers a wide range of high-value-added logistics services: combined rail-road-sea transport, rail freight solutions, road transport solutions, distribution, warehousing and all other services of the logistics chain, including parcel services and customs clearance, as well as logistics solutions customized to fit the customer's needs.
The 340 employees in six companies, which complement each other in the areas of logistics and combined transport, share a Quality-Safety-Environment culture that enables CFL Multimodal to be an efficient and responsible player in the logistics market.
The ideal geographic position of the Bettembourg terminal at the heart of Europe positions CFL Multimodal as a central logistics hub able to provide regular transport relations to Europe's major industrial areas as well as to the ports of the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and Southern Europe, in cooperation with its rail freight sister-company CFL cargo.

About CFL cargo

CFL cargo was created by the merger of the freight department of the Luxembourg national rail company (Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois) and the internal transport department of the Luxembourg production sites of ArcelorMittal.
With 400 employees, a fleet of more than 70 locomotives and 4000 wagons, CFL cargo offers customer-oriented services, including regional or international freight transport, the rental of wagons, the formation of complete trains, the issuing of waybills and the maintenance of wagons.
Together with its subsidiaries - CFL cargo Deutschland, CFL cargo Danmark, CFL cargo Sverige, CFL Fret Services France and Ateliers de Pétange – and with sister-company CFL Multimodal, CFL cargo operates on the main European North-South and East-West routes.

Contacts

LU-CIX, the Luxembourg commercial Internet exchange, will host on November 14, 2012 Luxembourg-Gaming.com, an online gaming, digital entertainment and ICT event. More than 50 exhibitors from online gaming and related industries will showcase their latest developments, trends and products to an expected 500 visitors at the Lux-Expo Conference Center at Luxembourg-Kirchberg. For more information and registration, please visit www.luxembourg-gaming.com

PRESS RELEASE - (05.09.2012)

On 5th September 2012, the Minister of the Economy and Foreign Trade, Etienne Schneider, the mayor of the town of Dudelange, Alex Bodry, and the mayor of the municipality of Bettembourg, Laurent Zeimet, have participated at the official ceremony for the launch of the infrastructure works on the new Eurohub logistics park, formerly used by the Warehouse Services Agency (WSA).

Etienne Schneider announced that « today is an important step in the redeployment of the Eurohub South activity zone into a dedicated logistics park ».

In order to facilitate the establishment of new logistics activities, the logistics action plan of the Luxembourg government foresees to make land available to companies planning to implement a value added logistics project. For this purpose, the activity zones Eurohub Center in Contern and Eurohub South in Bettembourg/Dudelange have been designated as dedicated logistics parks. While Eurohub Center hosts foremost logistics activities related to air freight, Eurohub South will be dedicated to railway logistics.

Eurohub Center has already been operational for several years, hosting well-known international logistics service providers. Eurohub South will be an extended gateway of the main European sea ports. Indeed, Eurohub South has a direct railway connection to the main European sea ports, a direct access to the major highways and is neighboured to the container terminal, the marshalling yard as well as the rail-motorway terminal.

The first logistics halls will be built as soon as possible. 2013 will mark a crucial year in the development of this new logistics park.

The Ministry of the Economy and Foreign Trade works in close collaboration with the Ministry for Sustainable Development and Infrastructures as well as other competent authorities such as the National Roads and Bridges Authority in order to finish at the earliest the infrastructures and access roads to the new logistics park. A new access road will be build so as to deviate the trucks from the municipalities of Dudelange and Bettembourg. Etienne Schneider also expressed his gratitude to the two municipalities for their good collaboration since the beginning of the project. He is confident that this constructive collaboration will successfully turn the Eurohub South park into a first class logistics zone in Europe.

Expeditors International (Nasdaq: EXPD) today announced their plan to open an office in Luxembourg on September 3, 2012. The full service branch will offer air and ocean freight, customs clearance, and warehousing and distribution services.

“Luxembourg offers several advantages to us,” said Peter Rose, Expeditors’ Chairman and CEO. “80% of the European Union’s GDP can be serviced within a 700km radius with road, rail and air options, and the government continues to make significant investments in infrastructure. They also offer a very favorable environment for companies choosing to locate there. As our customers continue to look for ways to reduce costs and engineer more efficient supply chains, our expansion into Luxembourg will provide opportunities to assist them to achieve both.”

Rose also commented that an official delegation from Luxembourg, visiting companies on the West Coast of the United States, was recently received by Expeditors’ at their worldwide headquarters in Seattle. The delegation, led by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg and His Excellency Etienne Schneider, Minister of the Economy and Foreign Trade, confirmed the Luxembourg government’s commitment to maintain the business friendly policies that continue to attract new companies to Luxembourg. “The level of assurance demonstrated by the government has instilled a great deal of confidence that we are making a sound and strategic decision to open in Luxembourg,” said Rose.

Etienne Schneider welcomed the decision of Expeditors to set up in Luxembourg : "By chosing the Grand-Duchy, Expeditors casts a vote of confidence in Luxembourg as a prime logistics hub in Europe"

About Expeditors

Expeditors (Nasdaq: EXPD) is a global logistics company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. The company employs trained professionals in 188 full service offices and 63 satellite locations on 6 continents linked into a seamless worldwide network through an integrated management system. Services include air and ocean freight forwarding, vendor consolidation, customs clearance, marine insurance, distribution and other value-added international logistics services.