Greater potential for collaborations in fintech, automotive sectors, says Luxembourg envoy

Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to India Peggy Frantzen has said there is greater potential for collaborations between her country and India, including Tamil Nadu, especially in the fintech and automotive sectors.

Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to India Peggy Frantzen has said there is greater potential for collaborations between her country and India, including Tamil Nadu, especially in the fintech and automotive sectors.

Speaking to The Hindu after meeting Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Minister for Industries Thangam Thennarasu in Chennai on Tuesday, she said the State government was keen on more collaborations and attracting investments from Luxembourg, especially in the automotive sector that has a major presence in Tamil Nadu.

While Luxembourg does not have many companies making cars, it has a strong presence of automotive components manufacturers. Ms. Frantzen hoped to have Luxembourg’s participation in Tamil Nadu’s Global Investors Meet planned in Chennai for January next. With Luxembourg being a founding member of the European Union, the Ambassador felt Indian companies operating there, especially in the automotive sector, would have access to a wider market. Luxembourg being a financial hub, there was great potential for collaborations in the fintech sector, she said, pointing out that the country had developed a green stock exchange, a first in the world, along with the required legislative framework.

The Ambassador visited the IIT Madras Research Park and hoped for Memoranda of Understanding to be signed in the near future for collaborations with start-ups in areas like healthcare technology, biomedicine and even space. She said there was more scope for collaborations with start-ups here.

She highlighted how Luxembourg had collaborations with the Indian Space Research Organisation, which launched four nano-satellites for the country in 2019.

Many key areas were identified for collaborations during the virtual summit in 2020 between the Indian Prime Minister and his Luxembourg counterpart. She said there was scope for collaborations in solar technology as Luxembourg is also a part of the International Solar Alliance. While roughly 100 Indian students were enrolling for postgraduate and doctoral programmes each year at Luxembourg institutions, she hoped for efforts to attract more Indian students. She said there were collaborations with institutions like IIT Madras, IIT Bombay and IIT Kanpur for exchange of students.