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Day: 19 June 2020

Gottlieb's anti-drink driving association adds new car to shuttle fleet

by: Cassandra Tanti
19/06/2020

Be Safe, the drink-driving awareness association initiated by Princess Stephanie’s daughter Camille Gottlieb, has been gifted with a shuttle car by the National Council.
Mayor Georges Marsan welcomed Camille Gottlieb, President of Be Safe, and other members of the Monaco association to the Town Hall on Thursday 18th June to receive the generous donation.
The association was created by the young member of the Princely in 2017 to combat drink driving in Monaco, primarily setting up a system of free shuttle vehicles at the exits of nightclubs to deliver people who had been drink safely to their homes.
In an effort to support the association, the Monaco City Council donated an eight-seater Toyota Hiace, which recently belonged to the City Council fleet.
“Your message is primarily intended for young people to warn them and raise their awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving, and I am sure you are excellent messengers by using the right words and targeting the right actions,” said Mayor Georges Marsan in his speech. “I am sure that this vehicle will be used wisely and I sincerely hope that it will help you to enhance the shuttle system and allow young and old alike to return home safely for after a night out.”
 
Photo courtesy Mairie de Monaco
 
 

International flight schedule set to take off

by: Stephanie Horsman
19/06/2020

Things are gradually returning to normal at Nice Côte d’Azur airport, where flights to 79 destinations will soon be possible – 62 of which are international – and the full reopening of Terminal 2 is set for 1st of July.

Nice Airport has resumed a certain amount of air traffic and will continue to accelerate the available flights in the coming weeks. The first phase of the resumption will include connections to the whole of the French territory, many major European cities, Magreb and Israel.  

The July flight schedule is significantly more expansive than June’s, with 17 French destinations about to be on offer as well as 62 abroad. Two new French cities will also be served, Brest and Caen on Volotea, from the start of July, making even more of France accessible by air than before lockdown. International flights are increasing from nine to nearly seven times that number, a dramatic increase in choice.

Additionally, Air France has announced there will be a significant uptick in flights between Paris Charles De Gaulle and Nice starting 1st July. Eleven flights a day on average will service the two cities initially, a sufficient number to start, though Orly will not be represented for the time being.

“With this flight program, Nice Côte d´Azur regains its rank as a contributor to the economic dynamism of its territory and allows residents of the entire southern region to travel as well as tourists, business or leisure, to return to Nice,” said Dominique Thillaud, Chairman of the Management Board of Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur. “The renewed confidence of the companies and their ambitions for direct international lines testify to the attractiveness of the platform and our ability to implement all the health measures capable of restoring the necessary climate of serenity that both passengers and members of crews have the right to expect from France’s ‘second airport’”.

All flights into and out of Nice will be served for the time being from Terminal 2 only. The reopening of Terminal 1 has been discussed, but not decided, and is unlikely to be before the end of 2020.

 
 

Monaco puts sport on the international agenda

by: Cassandra Tanti
19/06/2020

Monaco has initiated a Joint Declaration highlighting the important role that sport and physical activity played during the coronavirus crisis and calling on all countries to include these in their Covid-19 recovery plans.
The 19-point declaration released on Friday supports the World Health Organisation’s recommendation that all healthy adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, per week and that children do at least 60 minutes per day.
It highlights the role that sport and physical activity play in both the physical and mental health of people during lockdown, and suggests that the digital tools used for physical activity during this time be developed in the future.
It also recommends that sporting organisations be supported in their return to normalcy, declaring: “We are convinced that the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games and all postponed events will, when invited, have a special place in the history of sport. They will be a symbol of unity and solidarity following the pandemic. We commend the tireless efforts made by the stakeholders involved in this report.”
118 member states supported the joint declaration drawn up by the co-Chairs of the Group of Friends of Sport for Sustainable Development, the Ambassador of Monaco to the UN Isabelle Picco, and her counterpart from Qatar, Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani.
In accordance with the biennial resolution of the UN General Assembly on sport, also negotiated by the delegation of Monaco, the declaration also stresses the importance of sport for sustainable development , the building of peaceful societies and socio-economic development.
“For these reasons,” concludes the declaration, “we call on all States to include sport and physical activity in their recovery plans for after Covid-19 and to integrate sport and physical activity into their national sustainable development strategies.”
 
 

Wholesale Trade numbers top €4.5 billion

by: Stephanie Horsman
19/06/2020

The wholesale trade sector achieved an astonishing turnover of more than €4.5 billion in the Principality in 2019, according to the latest report from IMSEE.

Large Sector of Activity (GSA) of wholesale trade ranks at the top in terms of turnover in Monaco but is only the eighth biggest employer. The sector represents 5% of employees, 9.3% of GDP and 30% of turnover.

Wholesale trade performance is often linked to international economic and geopolitical situations. Tensions in certain areas have impacted major players in this sector in certain years, particularly in the area of ​petroleum product trade.

The growth of this sector (+17.8%) was nearly three times that of the Principality’s overall GDP (+6.1%). This sharp increase is mainly due to a gross operating surplus. In fact, the latter increased sharply (+31%) in 2018, but it only saw the compensation of employees grow at a modest rate (+0.3%). Wholesale’s sectoral GDP, adjusted for inflation, surpassed its former high point, reached in 2015, to almost €550 million. 

The sectoral GDP represents almost 10% of Monaco’s GDP. However, since wholesale trade is not an activity requiring a large workforce, employees weigh in at only 5.5% in overall GDP while gross operating surplus is 12.3%.

At the end of December 2019, wholesale trade had 1,253 active establishments, i.e. 12.6% of the companies that had been created. 79 were written off, representing a positive balance of 31 for the year. It is the fourth most prolific sector in terms of business creation.

Limited liability companies (SARL) remain the main legal form of these businesses. They include almost half of the establishments in the sector while representing only 28.7% of active companies in Monaco.

The average age of a wholesale trade business in operation is 11.7 years, relatively close to the Principality’s average of 12.8 years.  

 
Photo: Shutterstock