Business Partnership Facility

From Luxembourg to Kosovo: Building the finance of tomorrow

In 2024, the Luxembourg-based company e-LMA, a specialist in financial services software, received support from the Business Partnership Facility (BPF) for a project with Swiss Premium, an IT services company based in Kosovo. Together, they are training young Kosovar talents in finance and in the use of e-LMA’s solution, with the goal to create skilled, sustainable jobs in Kosovo. In this interview, Jabir Chakib (CEO of e-LMA) and Ilir Ibrahimi (CEO of Swiss Premium) look back at the origins, ambitions, and impact of their joint initiative.

Could you introduce e-LMA?

Jabir Chakib: e-LMA is a Luxembourgish company offering a SaaS (Software as a Service) solution, accessible via the cloud. Our platform is used by fund management companies, private equity actors, family offices, and financial institutions in Luxembourg and abroad.

In practice, we provide an ecosystem that automates complex financial operations that were traditionally managed in Excel. Each transaction automatically generates its corresponding accounting entry. Easy to use and highly reliable, e-LMA is backed by 15 years of experience in one of the most regulated financial environments in the world.

How did you hear about the BPF call for proposals?

Jabir Chakib: We learned about the opportunity thanks to our close involvement in Luxembourg’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Over the years, e-LMA has joined several diplomatic and economic missions with the Chamber of Commerce to countries worldwide. In September 2023, we travelled to Kosovo, where we quickly discovered the country’s economic opportunities and the Business Partnership Facility. Kosovo, like Luxembourg, is a small and accessible country where relations with both authorities and the business community are straightforward. During this mission, I met Ilir Ibrahimi. His company, Swiss Premium, provides IT and remote customer services from Kosovo to Germany and Switzerland. Very quickly, we identified the potential for a partnership: developing a back-office solution for Luxembourg’s financial sector while training young Kosovar graduates in finance and in our e-LMA solution.

How did the BPF support your project?

Jabir Chakib: First and foremost, the co-financing allowed us to move from an idea to execution. It gave us the means to launch our operations in Kosovo, recruit and train a local team, and begin delivering high value-added services in line with international standards. The funding, covering 50% of the total project cost, directly supported critical expenses in the initial phase.

Secondly, as the Development Cooperation Agency and an instrument of the Luxembourg state, LuxDev brought significant credibility to our project. Their structured and regular guidance kept us focused and aligned with the BPF’s development and impact objectives.

How did your project fit the BPF’s selection criteria?

Jabir Chakib: Our initiative fully meets the BPF’s key criteria, which place economic viability and sustainable development on equal footing. We have already trained four young professionals in Kosovo (two men and two women). The aim is to build a pool of 100 talents capable of passing on their knowledge in turn, ensuring a multiplier effect and long-term impact.

Ilir Ibrahimi: The partnership dimension is also a key pillar of the BPF – and it’s central to our project. Kosovo is undergoing rapid growth. Our capital markets and investment fund regulations are still in their early stages and Luxembourg offers a wealth of expertise we can learn from. We have visited Luxembourg several times through this project, but also to identify other partners who can contribute expertise to developing Kosovo’s financial sector.

Why is it important, in your view, to combine business and development cooperation?

Jabir Chakib: Bringing business and development cooperation together unlocks solutions that drive both growth and sustainable change. Success is not only measured in revenues, but also in skills gained and improved living conditions. It fosters partnerships built on mutual interest, respect, and a shared vision of progress.

What impact has BPF support had on your Kosovar partner?

Jabir Chakib: The project gave our partner an active role in providing services connected to one of Europe’s most sophisticated financial ecosystems. It also strengthened local institutional capacity by exposing the Kosovar team to international standards, tools, and working environments. More broadly, the project laid the foundation for a lasting partnership, combining business objectives with sustainable development goals.

Ilir Ibrahimi: Our company was heavily affected by the war in the late 1990s and could not develop as others in Europe did. In particular, our whole entrepreneurial ecosystem fell behind in the financial sector. The expertise we have gained in Luxembourg and brought back to Kosovo is now directly contributing to the country’s development.

How has the project evolved, and what are your future plans?

Jabir Chakib: The local team we trained in Kosovo is now fully operational, and the project is progressing well. We regularly welcome our Kosovar colleagues to Luxembourg and also travel there several times a year.Our goal for the next three years is to train and integrate at least 100 professionals into our global operational structure.

Luxembourg’s Development Cooperation plays a crucial role, not only through financial support but also by building bridges between Kosovar and European companies. The benefits are already clear, but the most important outcome is the long-term relationships established between our two countries. Training professionals in the fund industry is not only vital for our project, but also for preparing the future leaders of Kosovo’s capital markets – while equipping today’s young professionals with valuable skills.

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