Akhmetzhan Yessimov, President Astana EXPO-2017, visiting Monaco Pavillion @MIE
Alexandre Bocquillon, Deputy Commissioner of Monaco’s Pavilion in Astana, welcomed the President of Astana EXPO-2017, Akhmetzhan Yessimov, to the Monaco Pavilion on Friday, May 12.
Mr Bocquillon and his team presented in detail the concept developed by Monaco around the theme of “Reflecting the Future”. Work on the Pavilion’s exhibits is progressing at a steady pace and will be ready for the opening of Astana EXPO 2017, whose theme is Energy of the Future, scheduled for June 10.
Astana is the capital of Kazakhstan. Monaco has developed close trade and economic ties with the central Asian state over the last few years, and so the Principality’s Pavilion is an extension of this excellent relationship.
Fabrice Marquet, Director of MonacoTech, with Jean-Philippe Muller, IUM’s General Director
On Tuesday, May 16, the International University of Monaco (IUM) and MonacoTech showed their joint commitment to support entrepreneurship in the Principality.
Fabrice Marquet, Director of MonacoTech, presented Monaco’s recently launched Incubator and Accelerator Startup program to IUM students, after which Mr Marquet and Jean-Philippe Muller, IUM’s General Director, signed an accord to develop a collaboration between the two parties.
The agreement will focus on assisting young entrepreneurs and their participation in startups in Monaco, as well establishing a link between the Incubator program, where applications are now being accepted online, and the entrepreneurial track of IUM’s MBA program.
Mr Marquet emphasised that the team is the most important element when assessing applicants to the Incubator program, followed by the business plan and the probability of the company staying in Monaco after its initial launch period.
Diego Bonaventura, Project Manager at Monaco Invest
After the signing, Diego Bonaventura, Project Manager at Monaco Invest, gave students an overview of the Principality in numbers, which included figures such as 7 percent of the government’s budget is designated to healthcare and the fact that there is one police officer for every 70 people. As well, unemployment is at 2 percent and in 2016, 520 apartments in Monaco sold for €2.2 billion.
As the stars start to arrive in Cannes, where as many as 200,000 visitors are expected, local authorities have given strong assurances regarding public safety for those attending the 70th annual Film Festival.
The Maritime Prefecture of the Mediterranean said that from May 17 until May 28, the closing date of the festival, to ensure the safety of those present in the “Fanzone” in Cannes, a special maritime security system has been established, based around two restricted zones, one with a speed limit of five knots and a second inner zone with a speed limit of three knots. The strategy is to deal with any attempt by terrorists to reach the Festival from the sea.
In its communiqué, the Maritime Prefecture added: “The Maritime Gendarmerie will coordinate the resources of the State’s naval divisions in the area – Navy, Maritime Police, Departmental Gendarmerie, Customs, Maritime Affairs and National Police. The mission is to ensure the control of the maritime area of the Bay of Cannes and, in particular the immediate approaches of the festival palace, the port and the beach, to inform, detect, question, control and neutralise if necessary all suspicious movements.”
In addition, “Other marine facilities are also placed on alert and capable of reinforcing the system on the orders of the Maritime Prefect.” The maritime precautions are being put in place to complement heightened security on land.
The Association of Friends of the Ballets of Monte Carlo (Amis des Ballets de Monte-Carlo) have taken part in a trip to Paris to accompany the tour of the Ballets of Monte-Carlo at the Royal Opera of Versailles. The Compagnie des Ballets de Monte-Carlo was on tour in Paris on May 11 and 12 to present Cinderella, with choreography by Jean-Christophe Maillot.
Members of the association and its president since 2012, Tatiana Bersheda, had the honour of attending the performance given by Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, under the presidency of HSH Princess of Hanover and directed by Jean-Christophe Maillot.
At the end of this unique show, the association organised an exceptional dinner in the new restaurant of Alain Ducasse, opened in September 2016, in the Château de Versailles. It was a unique experience for all guests.
The visit to Paris also included, a guided tour backstage of the Royal Opera of Versailles; a guided tour of the Opera Garnier; a performance of the Cunningham / Forsythe programme at the Opéra Garnier, and exchanges with dancers.
It was the first time Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo performed on stage at the Royal Opera of Versailles. The two performances of Cinderella, sold out, and were immensely successful. This is an emblematic piece of the Compagnie’s repertoire, created in 1999 and danced more than 230 times throughout the world, including some twenty countries, such as Russia, Italy, Japan, China and the United States.
Since its inception, the ballet has been featured by numerous international companies, including the Korean National Ballet, the National Theatre in Prague, the Royal Swedish Ballet and the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle.
The Association of Friends of the Ballets of Monaco was created in 1986, with a mission is to promote the activities of the Monte Carlo Ballets and the artistic influence of the Principality. More specifically, they support organisations that are linked to the ballet: the Princess Grace Academy, the Monaco Dance Forum and the Monegasque Company itself. They also also support the dancers of the company and financially supports them during their professional retraining.
To achieve these goals, the association brings together generous donors, businesses and individuals based in Monaco and around the world.
A small airline offering flights from Nice to two French destinations will cease operations from Saturday, May 27.
Fly Kiss said on Tuesday that although its figures were encouraging, with 15,000 passengers carried in six months, passenger numbers fell short by 10 percent of break-even point. The airline flew several times a week to Brest and Clermont Ferrand.
The company sent an email to all its customers informing them of its cessation of activity.
The company president, Bruno Lechevin, said that “the balance sheet at the end of the first six months revealed a growing interest”. All scheduled trips will be refunded on the credit card used for the initial payment.
He added that the airline had tried to “open up our region”. He said that the airline was open to any interest from potential partners.
An audience was invited by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation on Friday, May 12, to an afternoon preview of Christine Oberdorff’s documentary film, Monaco Back to the Future, at Rainier III Auditorium. The documentary is due to be broadcast on Tuesday, May 16, on Ushuaia TV, a nature channel that is part of the TF1 Group.
The topic, as its name suggests, focuses on the Principality’s constant search for new technologies and cleaner machines for the future. Prince Albert, along with Venturi owner Gildo Pastor and some 600 viewers, attended Friday’s 60-minute screening.
The filmmaker followed Venturi’s VBB3, the fastest electric car in the world, first conceptualised in Monaco, from the Principality to the Salt Lake of Utah.
Ms Oberdorff went on to examine the history of the Principality and the pioneering role its Princes has played in promoting technological innovations and sustainable mobility, from the first helicopter to Solar Impulse, from electric vehicle racing to solar and hydrogen ships.
Accompanying the Sovereign Prince, Ms Oberdorff and the team from Ushuaia TV discovered these great technological adventures initiated or supported by the Principality, through a journey from Monaco to Columbus in the US, via the COP 22 of Marrakech.
It is not lost on the filmmaker than Monaco, despite its minuscule size of two square kilometres, is achieving huge advances in clean and green technology.
Monaco Back to the Future will air Tuesday, May 16 at 8:40 pm on Ushuaia TV. (Feature photo: Facebook Christine Oberdorff – Ushuaïa TV)
