Day: 12 November 2017

Philippe Verdier was looking very calm on Saturday afternoon, having officially kicked off the 18th No Finish Line 2017 at 2 pm with music by the Prince’s Orchestre des Carabiniers.

Despite the popular TEDxMonteCarlo event taking place at the same time, the Founder of NFL told Monaco Life, “Everything has gone very smoothly and we already have 1,000 more people signed up than last year, and there’s still another week to go.”

This year’s edition – “Heading to the Stars” – is hoping to reach the 400,000-km mark with the help of participants, individuals or teams, running or walking on a 1.4 km circuit in Fontvieille open 24 hours over eight days, for as many laps – and kilometres – as desired. Every kilometre completed equals €1 donated to charity on behalf of the sponsors, like Barclays and JB Pastor & Fils Monaco, to help sick and disadvantaged children through the association Children & Future.

Barclays finished third last year in the Team Category raising €10,321, is back for the 2017 edition with 300 participants from the Monaco branch, and Paula Radcliffe as their running Ambassador.

Francesco Grosoli, CEO Barclays Private Bank, EMEA & Monaco branch, had this to say about the team’s 2016 achievement: “I am very proud of the team and the way they pushed themselves beyond their limits for this great initiative. It is this same drive and determination to achieve excellence that allows us to continue delivering our best to our clients, the community and the Principality. Our commitment to Monaco is as solid as the Rock.”

Last year the 13,297 runners and walkers who took part in the annual No Finish Line passed the distance from the earth to the moon, travelling a total of 392,516 kilometres.

Since 1999, the year of the first No Finish Line, the objectives, both in terms of the number of participants and the number of kilometres, have continued to grow, making this one of the most important charitable events in Monaco. Over the past 18 years, 96,085 participants have travelled 2,636,778 kilometres, raising a total of €2,797,303 for projects favouring children.

Philippe’s goal is to have a NFL every week of the year worldwide. He launched in Paris in 2015 and Oslo in 2016. In April of this year, Athens held its first NFL and in 2018, No Finish Line will launch an edition in Nice, from June 6 to 10, with a 1km-circuit along the Quai des États-Unis.

One Monaco resident at the start on Saturday is Patrice Loquet who has the unique distinction of participating in all four No Finish Lines: Monaco (he done more than a dozen times, his personal best over eight days is 828 km), Paris, Oslo and the inaugural Athens NFL.

Ben Rolfe – aka Team Pussy Footing Around (look for them and their neon pink shirts) – is back with his amazing wife and children, each of the girls won a prize last year, although they were not at the start this year as Emily Rolfe was centre stage at TEDxMonte Carlo talking about her experience as the youngest person to finish the Marathon des Sables.

From babies in carriages to 98-year-old moms Anne Casey from St Paul’s Church, and from joggers to Special Olympics volunteers pushing wheelchairs, No Finish Line is accessible to everyone and their pet.

You can see Patrice, Paula and the Pussyfooters across the week. Be sure to cheer them on.

No Finish Line 2017 kicked off Saturday, November 11 at 2 pm and will close 4 pm on Sunday, November 19. Article first published November 12, 1017.

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IMSEE has reported Monaco’s GDP for 2016 amounted to €5.85 billion against €5.64 billion in 2015, a growth of 3.2 percent.

Although the pace of growth in the Principality has slowed down, it still exceeds that of world GDP (plus 2.4 percent) and the European Union (plus 1.9 percent). Monaco’s economy grew by 4.9 percent in 2015, by 7.2 percent in 2014, and 9.6 percent in 2013. In the aftermath of the global economic crisis, Monaco’s GDP fell by 11.4 percent in 2009.

The three most important economic sectors of the Principality in terms of GDP are Financial and Insurance Activities, Scientific and Technical Activities together with Administrative and Support Services, and Construction. They account for almost half (45.3 percent) of the wealth produced.

Growth in 2016 was entirely due to the performance of two business sectors: Construction and Other Service Activities. Meanwhile, manufacturing continued to shrink, with a fall in its contribution to GDP of 16.2 percent over a 12-month period. Its contribution to total GDP stood at 3.9 percent at the end of 2016.

Employment rose in 2016, in both private and public sectors. There were 491 additional employees (+ 0.9%) in December.

Download IMSEE’s 2016 GDP report here.

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French growth figures outpace UK, boost to Macron

The Government has launched the “Responsible Trade” (Commerce Engagé) label, with a goal to identify registered businesses in terms of their ecological, economic and social responsibility.

The Responsible Trade label is free and participatory, and highlights eco-responsible businesses while offering them personalised support through meetings and exchanges with a network of partners towards a sustainable approach to consumption.

The label is to be used with a set of specifications that have been defined in consultation with commerce in the Principality, which commit the country to the following actions: the reduction and sorting of waste; the sorting and reuse of packaging; use of local supply; and energy savings and resource management.

The initiative is not entirely new. In 2014, the Government launched a Responsible Trade approach with a focus on reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions.

In the first phase of this eco-responsible initiative, retailers were given support in preparing for and implementing the Sovereign Ordinance on the prohibition of plastic bags and plastic utensils.

Then, in early 2015, the Department of the Environment met with more than 200 local businesses that were using plastic bags to explore possible alternatives and discuss waste management and recycling.

This study showed that for more than 95 percent of Monegasque trader are concerned, to various degrees, about protecting the environment

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