The list of event cancellations in Monaco due to the coronavirus is growing. The latest include a key aspect of Monaco Ocean Week and artemonte-carlo at the Grimaldi Forum.
According to the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, the Monaco Blue Initiative (MBI) organising committee has received several cancellations from participants of the 11th edition scheduled to take place on 22nd and 23rd March 2020.
Faced with this situation, the organising institutions have regretfully decided to cancel the 2020 edition of the Monaco Blue Initiative, a high-level discussion platform gathering numerous international leaders from the political and ocean spheres.
The 11th edition will be postponed to March 2021.
The Monaco Ocean Week, scheduled for 23rd to 28th March 2020, is for the time being maintained. This federating event organised by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, the Prince’s Government, the Monaco Oceanographic Institute, the Monaco Scientific Centre and the Monaco Yacht Club will gather more than 40 events throughout the week, bringing together ocean players around topical issues such as food security, sea level rise, ocean acidification, sustainable yachting, the preservation of coral reefs, global warming and ocean innovation.
Meanwhile, Monaco’s main exhibition facility, the Grimaldi Forum, has announced further postponements and cancellations. Artmonte-carlo, initially scheduled for 1st to 3rd May 2020, has been postponed to 29th April 2021.
The One to One Retail E-commerce event, due to take place on 17th March, has been postponed to a new date – yet to be confirmed.
And the IOC World Conference on Prevention of Injury and Illness in Sport, initially scheduled for 12th to 14th March, has been put back to 3rd February 2021.
It was previously announced that the Aesthetic & Anti-Aging Medicine World Congress – AMWC and the James Bond – No Time To Die film premiere would also not go ahead as planned.
Suffering through the cancellation of 2020 events is not how the Grimaldi Forum expected to spend its 20th anniversary year. With a strong line-up of scheduled events announced in January, Monaco’s premier conference centre was hoping to better last year’s record figure of 290,000 visitors.
The cancellations will also heavily impact Monaco’s economy. The Grimaldi Forum achieved a turnover of more than €21.5 million in 2019, with spinoffs amounting to more than €68 million for the Principality.
Monaco’s biggest upcoming events – The Rose Ball on 21st March, The Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on 11th April and the Monaco Grand Prix on 24th May are – at this stage – still going ahead as planned.
Photo: Empty hall of the Grimaldi Forum
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Record year for the Grimaldi Forum
Day: 9 March 2020
Cross town rivals beat AS Monaco
AS Monaco fell to OGC Nice on Saturday at the Allianz Riviera stadium due to a tie-breaking goal by Nice in overtime.
It was a last minute heartbreaker for AS Monaco on Saturday night as OGC Nice eeked past them with a Kasper Dolberg goal two minutes into overtime play.
The night started out with electricity in the air and the teams both were supercharged by it. Monaco had the first chance to score when Fabregas nicked the posts, but didn’t quite make it in. Not long after, Ben Yedder found Jovetic in the box, but the Montenegrin couldn’t quite make the conversion. Then Nice struck back with an attempt by Claude-Maurice, who was handily stopped by Glik.
The Red and Whites went on the attack, and Jovetic again had a chance to score, firing a gorgeous shot across the goal. Unfortunately for Monaco, Nice’s goalie Benetiz had a quick reaction and blocked the shot.
Only a few minutes later the same scenario played out, only this time it was on a shot by Bakayoko.
It was Wissam Ben Yedder who finally broke the stalemate at 32 minutes on a fantastic pass from teammate Bakayoko, the French International racing up the field with two defenders in pursuit. He outran them and out-manoeuvred Benetiz to open scoring.
This goal, Ben Yedder’s 18th of the season, put him equal to his all-time career scoring record for a season.
Jovetic had a clear shot just a few minutes later, but the ball bounced off the post. Adam Ounas then took possession and narrowly missed the goal, keeping Monaco in the lead at the break.
Nice came back from the break with a renewed energy. Clade-Maurice took a seriously powerful shot, but Lecomte was on it and stopped the ball in its tracks. At the hour mark, things took a turn. On a pass by Ounas, Kasper Dolberg made an outstanding header right between the bars, evening up the score and putting the pressure on the Red and Whites.
In the 86th minute, Jovetic was red carded for tackling Lusamba, showing just how high the spirits on-field had gotten. Golovin made one last-ditch regular play shot on goal that crashed into the underside of the bar.
In overtime, the final blow came when Dolberg broke away in front of the goal and made the winning shot for his team. In a sad end, AS Monaco lost 1-2.
Coach Moreno couldn’t hide his disappointment, not with his playesr, but for them.
“This defeat hurts after the match we played,” he said. “I think we deserved the win, not even a draw. We had a good match for 90 minutes. The second half was more balanced, but we had more chances than them, hitting the crossbar in particular. We are going to review all that we have done well this evening. If we always play like this, I’m sure we will win the upcoming matches. We are already thinking of winning the next meeting. My team has had one of its best matches since I have been here.”
Photo courtesy: AS Monaco
Archbishop David ordained
© Photos : Eric Mathon / Palais Princier and Mickael Alesi / Direction de la communication
Markets weekly
After Super Tuesday last week showed former vice president Joe Biden resurrecting his campaign and halting Bernie Sander’s progress, this Tuesday sees a flurry of state primaries and caucuses with Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington among those being contested. The week in total has 371 pledged delegates up for grabs.
On the data front, fourth-quarter (Q4) gross domestic product (GDP) second estimates come from the eurozone on the Tuesday and the day after sees UK data on January GDP. The former is likely to confirm that European growth stagnated at 0.1%, three times less than Q3 growth. In the latter, the focus will likely be on whether a post-election bounce was evident in output after flat growth in the previous quarter.
Evidence of a post-election bounce in the UK economy has been seen clearly in the housing sector, with mortgage approvals rising to an almost four-year high in January. The February Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors housing survey data on Thursday will provide more evidence on the state of the sector.
However, taking centre stage on Thursday is the European Central Bank March meeting, with President Christine Lagarde facing a dilemma in light of the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak between following the Federal Reserve’s unexpected 50 basis point cut and lowering already negative interest rates or providing further quantitative easing/measures focused on providing short term liquidity to struggling firms.
Investors have been contemplating if the disruption to output on the supply-side from the coronavirus is offsetting weak demand and creating inflationary pressures. February inflation data from China, on Tuesday, the US, on Wednesday, and the eurozone on Friday will give a clearer insight into which effect is stronger.
The almighty dollar
The US dollar (USD) has performed strongly across the board this year, breaching levels last seen in October in recent weeks. Driving USD strength has been robust economic growth, safe-haven flows amid previous Iran tensions, the Covid-19 epidemic and the dollar’s attractive yield relative to other currencies in the ten largest economies, or the G10.
Most market participants envisioned a weaker USD in 2020 and so the recent outperformance would have come as a surprise. Whilst the fundamentals of the US economy appear healthy and would suggest that the recent move has legs, we highlight that the 2020 elections and the uncertainty that comes with this could provide some volatility.
That said, the US Federal Reserve’s surprise 50 basis point rate cut on 3rd March may limit the attractiveness of the dollar.
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