Marco L. Abreu (Mixvoip): Where ODOO Meets Telephony

Marco L. Abreu, Product Manager at Mixvoip, discusses bridging ERP and telephony gaps. He explains how Mixvoip’s ODOO-integrated PBX transforms voice into structured data, enabling Luxembourg businesses to unify communications, eliminate silos, and enhance operational efficiency across departments.

What problem were you aiming to solve by integrating a PBX directly into ODOO?

I am not economist, but on such a broad subject, the first difficulty lies in defining the terms. Competitiveness, for me, means the ability to win markets against competitors. And this ability rests on several very concrete criteria. The first is innovation: we see it clearly in the automotive industry. For a long time, the choice was between expensive, high-quality European cars or a cheap, low-quality Asian models. That paradigm has changed. I tried Asian electric-vehicles in Vietnam: today, you find inexpensive cars of very good quality. The second criterion is price, therefore cost structure. A country with an average monthly salary of 1,200 dollars has an obvious advantage over a country at 3,600 dollars. That leads to the question of automation. Replacing part of human labour with artificial intelligence significantly reduces costs and restores competitiveness, but at what cost for the client. Finally, for Luxembourg, housing is a central issue. To innovate and produce, talent must be attracted. Yet those talents now face major difficulties in finding accommodation. My short answer remains positive: yes, Luxembourg is still competitive. But the model remains fragile and requires reforms.

Why do you believe Luxembourg still maintains its competitiveness?

The analysis must remain holistic and right now, European reality works in Luxembourg’s favour. France is experiencing political instability with debt at 119% of GDP. Germany is facing an energy downturn after abandoning nuclear power, which strongly affects its industrial base. The United Kingdom is still dealing with the aftermath of Brexit. In this context, Luxembourg appears as a space of stability. It is a small country where security is still more or less under control, and where you can contact ministries or other entities such as Luxinnovation very efficiently to launch a business and conquer new markets. That is the good news. The bad news concerns a model built on an eternal growth of 3.5%, which is now 4.5+% with indexation. Yet the last 3 years show growth close to 0.5%. The 2026 budget presented by Gilles Roth reveals this imbalance: too much spending, not enough revenue. 80% of taxes come from finance. The model is running out of steam, reform becomes unavoidable.

“Competitiveness is expensive. It requires significant investments”

What type of reforms do you consider a priority?

Reform must move forward on all fronts. First urgency: housing. Facilitate access to public land, simplify construction rules, review certain standards that prevent the creation of small housing units. Attracting the hundreds of young employees who enter Luxembourg’s job market through the “big four” remains vital to feed the entire economic fabric. Second area: the civil service which needs to be optimised: less entities; more efficiency. For 30 years, the country benefited from comfortable reserves. Today, the priority lies in investment capacity. Building data centres and investing in new technologies require considerable resources. A balanced budget is no longer sufficient: investment strength must be generated. The example of Singapore illustrates this strategy with sovereign wealth funds exceeding one trillion in assets. Luxembourg, by comparison, has around 800 million euros in its sovereign fund, a negligible amount. Finally, indexation, created in 1975 after the steel crisis, responded to a specific context. In 2026, its automatic functioning raises issues of equity and sustainability. Without leadership and political courage, the economy will impose the adjustment itself. But it is always better to anticipate the blow and reform by choice!