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Month: May 2020

Monegasque icon needs your support

by: Stephanie Horsman
20/05/2020

One of Monaco’s most precious institutions, the Oceanographic Museum, is in need of support as the Covid-19 crisis strips the tourist-dependant attraction of crucial funds.

Closures of public places due to the coronavirus epidemic have affected many businesses and places of interest. The Monaco-based Oceanographic Institute, which encompasses the Oceanographic Museum and the House of the Oceans in Paris, are amongst those who have been seriously hit by the crisis.

Ticket sale-dependent revenues are down 70% on the year as all events and activities were forced to be put on hold for more than two months. This has left the institute in a position to call on the public to help in keeping the important work they do alive by asking for donations.

As a public entity, all donors are entitled to use their gifts as an income tax deduction of 66% of the amount given. For IFI donors, this amount is 75% up to €50,000.

“The trials we are going through create the need to reinvent ourselves even more deeply, to rebuild the link between people, species, the planet and the ocean,” said Robert Calcagno, Director General of the Oceanographic Institute. “This is why, more than ever, we need your donations to get through this crisis, face it and prepare with you the future, with a strengthened determination and enthusiasm.”

Since its creation in 1906, the Institute has been dedicated to the seas and their protection. The institute has made it their mission to educate the public and cultivate wonder of the oceans, as well as to mobilise the community to help the modern day problems the world’s seas are facing.

Donations will go directly to the facilities reliant on the funds from the Institute and will include caring for marine animals in the Monaco Centre for the Care of Marine Species, offering educational activities, aquarium upkeep, continuing research work and programmes on ocean life and protection, and offering experiences and exhibitions. 

To be part of this remarkable heritage and to contribute, just visit the dedicated website at dons.oceano.org.

 
 

Leclerc new face of Armani

by: Stephanie Horsman
20/05/2020

Without even putting his foot down in an F1 racing car this year, pilot Charles Leclerc is having a pretty stellar time with massive eSport success and now landing a gig as the face of Giorgio Armani’s new Made-to-Measure line.
When the Armani Group reopened stores in Italy on Monday, they opened with a new Spring 2020 advertising campaign featuring none other than Monaco son Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc has been garnering just as much attention for his wholesome good looks as for his driving skills since he first hit the Formula 1 scene in 2018, and now with this campaign, he will no doubt become a household name.
“Charles Leclerc is a very promising racing driver,” said Armani on his Facebook page. “He has achieved considerable success despite his young age, and this is an indication of his will and determination, as well as his obvious talent. He is fresh-faced and has an energetic physical presence that my Made to Measure collection enhances and matches well.”

The photographs were taken in Saint-Tropez by photographer John Balsom in black and white and exude the kind of Hollywood Golden Age glamour and elegance Armani is known for.
Leclerc isn’t the first Formula 1 driver to succumb to the allure of the camera. Other icons of racing such as Lewis Hamilton, who models for Tommy Hilfiger, and Kimi Raikkonen, who just did an ad for Alfa Romeo, have also gone down that garden path successfully.
 
 

France aims to open borders on 15th June

by: Cassandra Tanti
19/05/2020
nice airport

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian says the country will start a “generalised easing” of its borders from 15th June.
In March, the European Union banned foreign nationals from entering its Schengen area, an open border zone comprising 22 of 27 member states, with exceptions for medical workers and essential travel.
Last week it set out plans for a phased restart of travel, urging member states to reopen internal borders while recommending that external frontiers remain shut until at least the middle of June.
“Concerning the internal borders, we have reciprocity agreements with neighbouring countries and one can imagine that progressively, provided the easing of the lockdown works and the pandemic does not resume, we will be able to reconsider these closure measures,” said France’s foreign minister. “I think that progressively from 15th June, we will be able to start a generalised easing, at least that is what I hope.”
Among its new health and safety measures, the Nice Côte d’Azur airport has deployed UV robots that emit ultraviolet light to eliminate viruses suspended in air or on surfaces.
 
Read more:

‘There will be a European summer’

UV robot key to airport’s health and safety plan

 

Day 1 of Covid testing blitz

by: Cassandra Tanti
19/05/2020

The government has begun testing people without symptoms as part of efforts to manage Covid-19 in the Principality. If successful, Monaco will have likely achieved the highest testing coverage of all countries in the world.
Residents in Monaco with surnames starting with the letters A and B were invited to the Grimaldi Forum and Espace Léo Ferré to have the voluntary blood tests, which were being taken by both health professionals and members of the Monaco Red Cross.
“Good organisation, mobilisation of the resident population and responsibility of all in the implementation of the social distancing measures defined the first hours of the launch of the of screening campaign in the two centres designed for the occasion,” said the government as it shared pictures of the testing sites on social media. “Our images show a process in a serene and professional atmosphere. A big congratulations to all.”

Monaco aims to eventually test 90,000 residents and employees of the Principality. If a significant number of the population, which sits at just over 38,600, agree to take the voluntary blood test, Monaco will have achieved the most successful Covid-19 testing programme in the world.

Currently, Iceland continues to test far more of its population for coronavirus than any other country, with 167 tests per 1,000 according to figures by Our World Data published on 18th May. Other countries to have a strong testing regime include Estonia (53 per 1,000), Italy (50), Norway (40) and Switzerland (39).
 
Photos: © Communication Branch / Michael Alesi
 

CMB raises €471,000 for hospital

by: Cassandra Tanti
19/05/2020

During the peak of the Covid-19 crisis, the CMB set up a campaign to collect donations for the Princess Grace Hospital Centre. Residents and friends of the Principality didn’t disappoint, raising close to half a million euros in the national solidarity drive.  
On 10th April, the Compagnie Monégasque de Banque (CMB) established the initiative to collect money for Monaco’s main institution charged with fighting the Covid-19 outbreak, the Princess Grace Hospital Centre (CHPG).
With a personal contribution of €100,000 by the bank, the CMB was able to raise an impressive €470,955 in just over a month.
The donations have enabled the hospital to acquire the necessary biological material to autonomously carry out virological and serological tests, to reinforce medical equipment needed in the care services dedicated to Covid-19, and for the provision of protective equipment for staff and patients.
“I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all those who are on the front line of the fight against Covid-19 and to the generous donors who have made this fundraising campaign a real success,” said Francesco Grosoli, CMB’s CEO. “United, we are stronger together.”
In thanking everyone for their contribution, Benoîte de Sevelinges, Director of the CHPG, revealed that the donations will allow the hospital to anticipate and organise itself for the coming months according to the evolution of the pandemic.
 
 

Monaco boasts science and technical sector boom

by: Stephanie Horsman
19/05/2020

Scientific and technical companies have overtaken financial and insurance activities as the leading employer in Monaco, contributing in excess of €1 billion to GDP last year alone.

According to the latest report by statistics body IMSEE, Scientific and Technical Activities, Administrative and Support Services became the Principality’s largest employer and the second largest sector in terms of turnover in 2019. It was also the leading contributor to the country’s GDP in 2018. 

This sector groups together specialised, scientific and technical activities which represent less than a third of the sector’s employees but more than half of the turnover, with activities related to administrative services and business support.

Thanks to a sharp 11.8% rise in the sector, Scientific and Technical Activities, Administrative and Support Services has passed Financial and Insurance Activities as the leading employer in Monaco. The growth in this sector is nearly twice that of global Gross Domestic Product of Monaco at large.  

In fact, the GDP contribution for Scientific and Technical Activities, Administrative and Support Services passed €1 billion in 2019. This was seen in a +9.8% rise in remuneration of salaried employees, a gross operating surplus of +12.9%, increase in taxes of +15.8% and +2.1% in subsidies.

At the end of the calendar year 2019, there were 2,274 establishments working in the Scientific and Technical Activities, Administrative and Support Services sector, equalling almost a quarter (22.8%) of the organisations in the Principality. The companies fell under two main legal headings, SARLs and individual enterprises, which made up 70% of the sector.  

262 new companies were created in 2019 and 162 were shut, making a positive balance of 100 new operations.

The average time these companies have been operational is 9.4 years, the lowest average of all sectors in Monaco, which sits at 12.8 years on the whole.

Nearly two thirds of those employed in this sector are men, making it more male heavy than the Monaco average. French nationals represent over half the employees, coming in at 56.6%.

 

Photo: Pixabay