Internationally successful companies such as Dimension Data and SES have successfully established offices in Luxembourg and there is an opportunity for the South African tech community wishing to do business in Europe and the rest of the world.
Luxembourg for Business is proud to promote ICT and the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce will be hosting ICT workshops in Johannesburg and Cape Town next week (on 25 June, 2013 and 26 June, 2013 respectively).
Says Tom Kettels of Luxembourg for Business: “Luxembourg is multicultural and multilingual and provides unequalled access to Europe’s 500-million consumers. It’s efficient at giving businesses the operating power to reach the European markets faster and more profitably than any other location.
“We focus on business and you’ll find one of Europe’s most business-friendly environments for ICT companies. Many leading ICT and media companies from around the globe run their European operations from here.”
Says Pierre Dumont, MD of Dimension Data Luxembourg: “The vision Dimension Data Luxembourg adopted twenty years ago has evolved into one of the most successful stories within the Luxembourg IT sector. In addition, while our goal is to offer the best possible services to our clients, our success has in turn also benefited the larger Dimension Data group. We look forward to another twenty years of progress.”
For the past 20 years, Dimension Data has been helping companies in Luxembourg to access innovation more easily, while also simplifying how to use technology.
Dumont continues: “We’ve always wanted to be ahead of our time, but our interest in innovation lies in presenting solutions that will provide our clients with a real advantage. From the start we also bet on IP, which turned out to be a recipe for success.
“The first step was for us to set up the Luxembourg office as an autonomous structure with its own strategy. We planned for Dimension Data Luxembourg not to be a branch office, but rather a separate entity with its own board of directors making decisions appropriate to our particular business environment.
“A determining factor in our success over the past 20 years is that we took the importance of the Luxembourg market into consideration from the start. We have the best talent in Luxembourg. Our managers and teams have built a successful business that is recognised abroad. It’s a pleasure to work with them every day,” Dumont says.
Telecom Luxembourg Private Operator provides domestic and international connectivity to and from Luxembourg. The company counts a large number of big names among its customers, such as the cloud gaming company OnLive and the Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten.
Says Jérôme Grandidier, CEO, who will accompany the upcoming Luxembourg trade mission to South Africa: “Telecom Luxembourg Private Operator is fully supporting South African companies that intend to establish a European branch office in Luxembourg or that want to be connected to Europe through Luxembourg.”
Telecom Luxembourg Private Operator and Dimension Data Luxembourg have further announced their plans to develop a common platform of services.
“Several years of regular joint ventures and projects successfully concluded together have given us the opportunity to evaluate and demonstrate the ways in which our two organisations complement one another,” explains Vincent Nicolay, chief operations officer at Telecom Luxembourg Private Operator.
While Telecom Luxembourg Private Operator will bring its extensive expertise in connective technology and data centres, Dimension Data will supply the integration services, operational management and Cloud Computing.
Global satellite operator SES was incepted with Luxembourg State support in the mid-eighties. Combining a strong regional presence with global reach, the company provides satellite-based solutions to broadcasters, content and Internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators, business and governmental organisations worldwide.
SES’ global fleet consists of 53 satellites – with 9 over Africa and another to launch by 2014. SES is committed to its customers in Africa with local teams and offices based in Johannesburg, South Africa and Accra, Ghana. The office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia will open before the end of 2013.
“Whether our customers are from Europe or Africa, looking to connect from Europe to Africa or from urban to non-urban Africa, we have the local infrastructure in place to support them,” says Ibrahima Guimba-Saidou, senior VP, Commercial, Africa at SES.
SES is increasing its investment in Africa with one of the industry’s most ambitious fleet expansion programmes to address the explosive growth and demand for 100% broadcast reach, GSM services and mobile broadband connectivity. Through this investment, SES aims to deliver broadband to underserved areas and reach millions through direct-to-home (DTH) broadcast services.
Adds Kettels: “The right mix of legal, financial and technical resources and skills make Luxembourg the right place for electronic activities in Europe. Many world-renowned companies are taking advantage of this privileged environment such as amazon.com, PayPal, eBay, iTunes, Rakuten, Skype, RTL Group and more.
“We’d therefore like to invite all interested parties from the information and communication technologies, to join us to learn more. The ICT workshops will show how Luxembourg can provide an optimised technical, legal and financial framework for tech companies wishing to do business all over the EU.
“The workshops will gather decision makers from South African tech companies wishing to establish in Europe and experts from the Luxembourg authorities. Participants will receive comprehensive information on why Luxembourg is so well placed to do e-business in Europe,” Kettels concludes.
