Reza Arjomand, 28, is a final year student in the Master in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Luxembourg. When he began hearing news about a strange virus originating in Wuhan, China which then devastated his home country of Iran, Reza thought about how he could help Luxembourg prepare.
By approaching manufacturers in China before the pandemic hit Europe, he has been able to procure and supply high-grade protective masks to Luxembourg agencies as well as a major European Institution. Reza kindly answered some of our questions about his project.
You sprang into action quite early, how did you have the foresight?
RA: From the early days, I knew for a fact that a major crisis was on the rise. Being an Iranian, I had only recently seen the impact of COVID-19 in my home country, which was upsettingly shocking. Iran was one of the worst-hit countries at early stages of the global pandemic, but thankfully the situation was managed well and It was stabilised soon after. Having seen the impact of pandemic in Iran, I naturally began to worry how hard its impact could be when it finally hit Europe.
Where did you get the idea to contact mask manufacturers?
RA: Early on, in January, a few factors led me to believe that there was going to be a shortage of supplies soon. Primarily, there was the fact that the disease was spreading very rapidly from one country to another, and second, it was the reaction of the Luxembourgish local market to the situation. I recall the end of January when local pharmacies had already run out of masks. It was at that point that I realised there was going to be temporarily a high market demand for certain products. Because of our family business we had good relationships with number of influential Chinese firms, who granted us access to a range of high-quality medical suppliers, whose products are fit for the European market.
What was your motivation to help the country?
RA: I do have a lot of respect and affection for Luxembourg as it is one of my favourite countries in the world. It was truly troubling to see the storm that was on the way, and how better-prepared things could have been. After all, I had seen the same tragedy just a few weeks before in my home land.
Although I am not able to call Luxembourg my home just yet, I felt compassionately responsible to do every little that I could in order to be a part of helping the nation to overcome the situation. Masks and medical supplies, were what I had access to at the time, and the least I could do was to find a way to make it available for the Luxembourgish people. I am grateful that I got the chance to do so.
Anything else that you’d like us to know?
RA: I feel obliged to thank the University of Luxembourg Incubator’s Sivakumar Bactavatchalou and Pranjul Shah, who helped us get in touch with the Ministry of Health.
I would also like to thank my friend Matteo Cernuschi who helped registering an S.a.r.l-s under the name Trident Consulting, while also helping with distribution and sales of the products. It is only fitting to thank my friend Norman Adler who also helped with sales of the product.
Lastly, I must thank the Ministry of Health, the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and all those whose tremendous efforts over the past few weeks helped Luxembourg to overcome this pandemic.
We congratulate Reza for putting his entrepreneurial spirit into action. He saw an early opportunity to act and seized it, ultimately bringing his idea of supplying protective masks in Luxembourg to reality. Bravo!
For more information about the Master in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, please click here.