Luxembourg can facilitate dialogue between the world’s superpowers, finance minister says

Gilles Roth says trade should not be fragmented amid tensions in Ukraine and the Middle East

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Gilles Roth, Luxembourg’s finance minister. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 9:30am, 4 Feb 2025Updated: 10:43am, 4 Feb 2025

The world’s superpowers should be able to cooperate and collaborate, and Luxembourg is willing to act as a facilitator, according to the country’s finance minister.

“After all, there should be no fragmentation of international trade – that’s the most important [thing], especially in these times of geopolitical tensions with the war in Ukraine, with the tensions in the Middle East,” Gilles Roth said in an interview with the Post on the sidelines of the Asian Financial Forum (AFF) last month.

Roth has been finance minister since November 2023 and he completed his first official tour of mainland China and Hong Kong last month, meeting with top officials and senior bankers. Amid global economic volatility, he said more dialogue was needed between the world’s superpowers – the US, China and the European Union – “because the global economy needs growth.”

On February 1, US President Donald Trump imposed 10 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports as well as 25 per cent on goods coming from Canada and Mexico. On Sunday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Beijing would “take necessary countermeasures to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests”.

“⁠China is one of the three global superpowers in the global economy, and therefore the boosting of one economy is to the benefit of the global economy,” said Roth.

In 1979, Bank of China became the first mainland lender to open an office in Luxembourg. Today, seven Chinese banks have operations in the country, according to Luxembourg For Finance, an organisation that promotes and develops the financial services industry. It said these banks served clients on the mainland who wanted to invest in Europe, as well as European clients who needed financing for their activities in China.

“What is important for us, as a big financial hub, but as a small country, is to avoid protectionism, which is to serve as a bridge builder, not only on financial matters – but especially in financial matters,” Roth said.