The bonds between Hong Kong and Luxembourg are steadily increasing thanks to both jurisdictions being centres for the financial services industry.
Luxembourgers may be thin on the ground here - and back home the population is less than 500,000 - but offices of the major players in the Grand Duchy's accounting and finance sectors are placing personnel here.
Although many of those executives are Belgian, German or French, it all makes sense as their nations border Luxembourg and send about 200,000 commuters into the Grand Duchy each day. About half that number are German.
One reason why so many who make their living in one of the world's wealthiest nations live outside it comes down to house prices. Many of these commuters work at the more than 155 banks in the country, which is the world's second-largest centre for investment funds after the United States. Much of the money comes from Hong Kong and the mainland and finance industry specialists say that more than half the retail funds sold in Hong Kong are incorporated in the Duchy.
One of those who knows the commute from the German border town of Trier is Miriam Keusen, a senior manager at KPMG Tax, who is now on secondment to Hong Kong.
'I wanted to come to Asia. It's the dream of my life to be here for a while and see the way both markets operate.
'Luxembourg is very beneficial for tax benefits and more Hong Kong clients are seeking this. In a way, it feels that my day-to-day work here is building a bond between Luxembourg and Asia,' says Keusen, who advises clients on such matters as the Duchy's tax laws, company incorporation and compliance when seeking investment opportunities.
