(L-R, front): Louis Gautier, Secretary General of Defense and National Security with Serge Telle, Monaco’s Minister of State. (back): Didier Gamerdinger, Minister of Health and Social Affairs, Patrice Cellairo, Minister of the Interior, and Claude Cottalorda, Ambassador of Monaco in France. Photo: Charly Gallo/DC
France and Monaco have signed an accord on the sharing and protection of classified information.
On Thursday, July 13, the two sides signed a general agreement in the presence of Serge Telle, Minister of State of the Principality, and Louis Gautier, Secretary General of France’s Defence and National Security Organisation, for the exchange and reciprocal protection of classified information.
This accord has been facilitated by the new Monaco law on the preservation of national security of July 6, 2016, which establishes the rules for the creation and protection of classified data and its exchange with foreign partners.
The negotiators on each side established a text that mutually recognises classification levels and sets out the framework for trading classified information.
The Monaco government said that the arrangement, concluded between very close partners, will make it possible to reinforce cooperation in sensitive areas, particularly in the fight against terrorism and computer security. France is the first partner of the Principality to sign such a general security agreement.
L-R:HE Datuk Ibrahim Abdullah, Ambassador of Malaysia; HE Ismail Hakki Musa, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey; Gilles Tonelli, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation; HE Kristjan Andri Stefansson, Ambassador of Iceland; and HE Alvaro De Soto, Ambassador of Peru. Photo: Frédéric Nebinger/DC
Gilles Tonelli, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, hosted a luncheon at the Hermitage Hotel on Thursday, July 13, for HE Datuk Ibrahim Abdullah, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Malaysia; HE Kristjan Andri Stefansson, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Iceland; HE Alvaro De Soto, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Peru; and HE Ismail Hakki Musa, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Turkey.
The group of four had presented their Letters of Credence to the Sovereign Prince in the morning.
HE Datuk Ibrahim Abdullah was appointed Deputy Director of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) in 1996. From 1998, he was successively Councillor and then Head of Mission, Embassy of Malaysia in Turkey, Sudan and Japan. He became High Commissioner to the Malaysian High Commission in Nigeria in 2003 and then Director of the OIC in 2005. He was promoted to Ambassador in 2008, representing his country in Syria and Germany before assuming the post of Deputy Secretary-General of the ministry of foreign affairs.
A lawyer, HE Kristjan Andri Stefansson was Legal Adviser to the Prime Minister of Iceland from 1994 to 2004, before becoming Minister-Counsellor in the Economic Affairs and Foreign Trade Directorate of the Foreign Ministry. He was promoted Ambassador in 2005 and from 2014 he was Director-General of Legal and Executive Affairs and then Assistant Secretary-General of the Foreign Ministry.
Mr Stefansson is the first Icelandic Ambassador accredited to Monaco.
A career diplomat since 1966, HE Alvaro De Soto held senior executive positions at the United Nations during the tenure of Javier Pérez de Cuéliar, Boutros-Boutros-Ghali and Kofi Annan. In 1982, he was appointed Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the United Nations, becoming a Personal Representative for the peace process in Central America. In 1995, he assumed the post of Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs of the United Nations. He has acted as a mediator in Cyprus and as Special Coordinator in the Middle East peace process.
HE Ismail Hakki Musa was appointed Consul of Turkey to Lyon in 1994. After working at the Sub-Directorate of Bilateral Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1997, he joined the Permanent Delegation of Turkey to the European Communities as Counselor. In 2005, he was Head of the Department for Administrative and Financial Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He became Minister Plenipotentiary in the same Department. He has also held the posts of Consul General in Lyon, Ambassador in Belgium and Under-Secretary of State Deputy to the Prime Minister.
Last week, the Monaco Junior Chamber of Commerce (JCEM) hosted its first English-speaking training as part of its Leadership and Management training program. It was a huge success.
Almost twenty people attended to hear trainer Alicia Sedgwick, who teaches Public Speaking to Undergraduates, and Communication in Business at the International University of Monaco. Ms Sedwick, one third of the local singing trio Lib Day Darlings, made her entrance to Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic, a song that “gives her confidence.”
“We’ve been doing training for about four years now” JCEM member Zorana Ioffrida told Monaco Life, “but it’s the first one in English. Anyone can attend, we just want people to be confident in themselves.”
This is an attitude Alicia Sedgwick followed carefully throughout the training. “Everyone in this room joins team Alicia for life. In this team, you leave all of your fears, your inhibitions and your anxieties outside the door.”
Confidence. One by one participants introduced themselves with a bit of professional background: banking, marketing, cosmetics, shipping, IT … but their common goal? The desire to be a confident public speaker.
“And I have the perfect cure for that,” underlined Ms Sedgwick. “First of all, remind yourself that when you give a presentation, it’s not about you, it’s about the audience. You have to understand them. What does the audience need? Does it want to be informed or convinced?” Reading your audience is key.
“Never lose eye contact. Try to look right, left, up, down to keep everyone involved.”
Little by little, the JCEM trainees gained confidence. Vocal exercises, posture rebalancing… In the 2-hour session, Alicia Sedgwick managed to broach many different subjects to unleash the natural leaders within, with the magic formula of public speaking, the four Ps: PITCH, PACE, PAUSE, POWER.
“Nobody knows what you’re going to say so they don’t know you didn’t say what you wanted to, unless you show them you’re wrong by panicking,” she explained.
We have two ears and two eyes but only one mouth “so we’re meant to observe”, she insisted. It’s perfectly normal to be uncomfortable at first, but you dare to overcome your fears while the audience doesn’t. Be proud.”
The next JCEM training will be in September as part of the Enterprise Creation cycle. “We’ll learn how to create a business in Monaco, with all the specific laws. And, most important, we’ll share our stories,” Ms Ioffrida said.
Training is open to members and non-members. For more, see their website.
Prince Albert and Marek Eštok. Photo: Facebook Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry
Prince Albert has bestowed Monaco’s highest official award – The Order of Saint-Charles with the rank of Knight – on departing Slovak Ambassador to Monaco Marek Eštok.
Ambassador Eštok received the award for his merit and contributions in developing Monaco-Slovak relations during his tenure.
“By bestowing the award, the Prince of Monaco showed appreciation for the dynamic development of relations between the two countries, which resulted in his first official visit as head of state to Slovakia – in May – and in the first ever Slovak-Monaco economic forum in Bratislava,” the Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry said.
SBM, Monaco’s casino operator, has announced a joint venture with Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) to develop and operate a leisure complex in Japan.
Macau’s Galaxy has been a five percent stakeholder in SBM since 2015. The possibility of a joint project in Japan has come about since Japan’s Upper House passed enabling legislation in December, 2016.
SBM’s announcement of the project comes just 15 weeks after the legislation passed.
Galaxy President, Dr Lui Che Woo, commented: “Since opening our flagship Galaxy Macau facility in 2011, we have quickly earned a reputation for developing and operating some of the most incredible integrated resorts in the world, and together with SBM we look forward to creating hospitality and entertainment that our customers will enjoy in the years to come.”
Jean-Luc Biamonti, President and CEO of SBM, referred to “similarities in terms of business philosophy between SBM and GEG, a deep commitment to supporting the company’s employees, the local community, the environment, and maintaining the excellence of standards in line with SBM’s corporate values, both in the design of world-class resorts and in the proposed service.
SBM also welcomes the opportunity to increase the value of its international portfolio.
The end-of-year exams have confirmed the excellence of the Principality’s secondary and high schools.
The overall success rate for the baccalauréat, all series combined, was 98.6 percent at the end of the tests of the second group with 316 mentions, including 76 “Très Bien”.
A very impressive 98.8 percent of the students in the general series passed their bac, while the success rate for technological bacs was 98.6 percent.
The professional baccalaureates enjoyed 97.9 percent success, of which 93.6 percent was for the Management Administration series and 100 percent for all the other professional specialisms.
Collège François d’Assise-Nicolas Barré (FANB) achieved a 100 percent pass rate for the National Diploma (Diplôme National du Brevet) with 102 mentions for 114 candidates, including 47 “Très Bien”.
Charles III college scored 98.9 percent overall success with 257 mentions for 280 candidates, including 97 “Très Bien”.
One hundred percent of pupils who entered the DNB professional series obtained it.
Finally, 88.2 percent of students enrolled in the Higher Technician Diploma passed their examinations, 96.4 percent of them at the Lycée Albert 1er, 100 percent for the BTS Assistant Manager course, and 80 percent for the BTS Hôtellerie du Lycée Technique et Hôtelier.
The Prince’s government congratulates the students of the Principality for the excellent results obtained during this 2017 edition.
The government also extends its thanks the Directorate of National Education, Youth and Sports, together with the heads of schools and the educational and pedagogical teams concerned, who once again succeeded in guiding their students towards a very well-deserved success.
