Cinemas, swimming pools, playgrounds and sports facilities are all reopening as part of the government’s next phase of deconfinement, however the establishments will be monitored to ensure they are applying the Principality’s strict health measures.
The re-openings were confirmed during the 10th meeting of the Joint Monitoring Committee between the government and National Council held on Friday 5th June.
As of Saturday 6th June, children’s playgrounds were reopened, together with outdoor self-service sports facilities and private and public pools.
Managers of swimming pools will, however, be required to send details of their hygiene protocols to the Monaco health authorities, where they will be examined on a case-by-case basis taking into consideration chlorine content, regular disinfection, individual cabins, and no paddling pool. According to the government, swimming pool management and water quality will be regularly monitored.
It was also announced that from 12th June, theatres, including indoor and outdoor cinemas, will be allowed to reopen. Compulsory wearing of masks and staggered seating will be applied.
From 15th June, sports halls are authorised to resume their activities, however their safety measures will be analysed before approval is given by the authorities.
The next phase of deconfinement in Monaco also includes the reopening of the grande section des maternelles and an extension of the school week from the current two days to a normal five-day week, facilitating the return to work of parents.
The government, however, decided that the two municipal crèches and the Monaco Red Cross crèche that are currently accessible in the Principality are sufficient to satisfy current demand. These crèches will also remain open during the months of July and August. The government indicated that other sites in the Principality could reopen if needed.
The National Council was hoping the government would agree to the relaxation of distancing measures applied to restaurants, which are stricter than those in neighbouring France, and the removal of obligatory reservations. The government, however, said on Friday that it will re-evaluate these issues soon, “with the necessary hindsight in the face of this reopening which took place three days ago.”
Meanwhile, businesses who follow Monaco’s strict health standards will be awarded a special “compliance label” – a reassurance of sorts for concerned customers.
It was decided that the discounted daily rates for public car parks introduced during the crisis will end as scheduled on 15th June.
And finally, the National Council was not successful in its call for an extension of State aid, with the government responding: “It was agreed that the common objective is to continue along the path already started of supporting economic actors while considering an evolution and an adaptation of their modality following the deconfinement measures.”
The next Joint Monitoring Committee meeting will take place on 18th June.
Top photo: Princess Antoinette Park, courtesy Mairie of Monaco
Casino de Monte-Carlo reopens with new safety measures
Monaco gyms will be allowed to reopen on 15th June if the facilities meet the health standards put forth by the government.
Though gyms across the border in France have been reopened, Monaco decided to take a more conservative approach, leaving them out of Phase three deconfinement. The idea was to keep watch on the evolution of the virus, and if containment seemed to be effective in other areas, then gyms would be included in the next phase.
It seems that the Principality has had sufficient success that the government is comfortable with the reopenings.
“It seems to be completely under control. The last positive case dates back to Saturday and, according to the provisional results of the mass screening of the population, only 2.5% of the residents were in contact with Covid-19,” said the government in a statement.
It should be noted that this is not a blanket reopening. There are strict conditions which must be met by the facilities in order to be allowed to open their doors again. All current health department requirements must be met, and gym goers will be placed on a list which will be kept for two weeks in order to trace and isolate any possible positive cases and their contacts. It is recommended that reservations be made beforehand to avoid waits, as there will be limits to the number of people allowed inside each room.
For now, showers and changing rooms will not be accessible, so visitors must arrive in their gym kit ready to go. Toilets will be available, though. Finally, those using equipment must disinfect them after each use.
Despite the 3rd June reopening of the Italian border, crossings are still fraught as Monaco and France have yet to do the same, causing confusion, long waits and frustration for commuters and casual travellers alike.
The race across the border into Italy after months of total lockdown was a welcome shift after the strict confines of the coronavirus epidemic. People gleefully streamed across the frontier to visit friends, do a bit of shopping or go to a favourite restaurant.
All good, right? Well… not exactly.
The rub is that border control measures have not ended in neighbouring France and Monaco, so whilst getting into Italy is no problem, coming back can be. On the first day of the Italian reopening, massive traffic jams into France and Monaco were reported, some as lengthy as four kilometres long with cars taking well over two hours to make it to the other side.
The situation was bad enough for the Prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes to issue a press release. They reminded people that, “France has not yet reopened its borders, the police continue to carry out checks to verify that the people wishing to enter the national territory correspond to exceptional cases. It therefore remains essential to have the derogatory international displacement certificate to present in the event of an inspection.”
The perfect storm created on that first day was brought about by several factors. The French people excited about going to Italy combined with the pre-existing control measures in the fight against illegal immigration and the return of those who had been trapped across the border due to the health crisis made for a nightmare scenario at the border.
After the difficulties of the first day, Monegasque and French border agents have streamlined their approaches, easing controls for nationals of both countries in order to prevent these scenes from re-occurring.
As a reminder for visitors going into Italy, depending on the municipality, masks are obligatory in the streets, in cars with people who do not live in the same household, on public transport, in restaurants and in shops. Gatherings of people are prohibited unless they stand two metres apart and food shops require both gloves and masks before entry.
Photo: Border between France and Italy, Pixabay
Interview: Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality CIO Rinat Guy
Monaco Life interviews Rinat Guy, speaker at this month’s Transition Forum, about Tel Aviv’s similarities with Monaco and her role in helping to position the city as one of the leading urban destinations in the world by 2030.
As Chief Innovation Officer of the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, Rinat Guy directs a strategic task force in charge of positioning the city as Israel’s international Innovation City.
Ms. Guy’s guiding vision is to foster an inclusive spirit of innovation, where all members of the entire urban ecosystem engage in collaborative initiatives that can be potentially implemented and scaled with the aim to address city challenges and improve the quality of life and the human urban fabric. Tel Aviv-Yafo. Photo credit – Courtesy of Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, Barak Brinker Monaco is in the process of becoming a Smart City. Do you see any similarities between Monaco and Tel Aviv?
People, processes and technology are the three elements which impact the success of smart city initiatives. Cities must recognise the needs of their residents, understand what drives the city’s economy, and create policies and targets which meet the needs of its residents, business owners and visitors.
Tel Aviv’s smart city initiatives are all facilitated by free citywide Wi-Fi in public areas and serve to improve municipal services, enhance residents’ quality of life and create the conditions for sustainable urban development. Above all they exemplify the city’s active, intelligent role in employing technology to heighten civic engagement and ensure a city which is accessible and responsive to all.
Tel Aviv and Monaco are both committed to the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group affirming the commitment to tackle climate change now in order to ensure a clean and more sustainable future. Both cities also have a warm and sunny climate and are welcoming in the sense that residents spend most of their time outdoors, in cafes, meeting people and networking – creating excellent conditions for a thriving start-up ecosystem. What start-ups does the municipality prefer to support and why?
In recent years, TLV has also emerged as one of the world’s leaders in technology and innovation. There are 2,000 start-up companies at any given moment in Tel Aviv, which means it has the highest density of start-ups in the world, per capita or per square mile. Many start-ups cannot gain government support; they are not mature or big enough. The bureaucracy to gain funding is too complicated, time consuming and too expensive for a seed start-up. The Municipality of Tel Aviv has a significant role in supporting those start-ups and more specifically start-ups dealing in clean tech and quality of life related initiatives. Every two weeks, representative of the municipality meet start-ups to understand their needs and help them where possible, from providing them with access to municipal co-working spaces, access to municipal data, access to municipal experts, and of course, aid with tax benefits. How important is it to recruit foreign entrepreneurs?
Over the past decade, our city has been experiencing a unique phenomenon: from a local economic hub, serving mainly the Israeli market, Tel Aviv has become an international hub, attracting talent and companies from all over the world with a clear focus on the creative and technology industries.
If we want to maintain our position in the start-up world the key is to also cooperate with others, bringing different cultures to the brainstorm. We help foreign entrepreneurs to find their way to integrate, to get their visa, and vice versa. Tel Aviv-Yafo. Photo credit – Courtesy of Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, Barak Brinker Can you tell us more about ‘Silicon Wadi’?
Tel Aviv is known as the ‘Silicon Wadi’ for a good reason. It is a relatively small city, located in the Middle East, which makes a substantial impact on the global start-up ecosystem. Tel Aviv became a global hub regardless of a complicated geopolitical situation in the area. The impact its high-quality ecosystem has on the economy is well noted. The high-tech sector is the country’s number one export industry and it contributes by generating tax revenue both from its success stories: the Exits, and the high salaries to its employees. Tel Aviv has been ranked the world’s second ‘most innovative city’ as part of the Wall Street Journal magazine and Citibank’s City of the Year contest. What did this mean for the city?
Tel Aviv-Yafo today is a city characterised by inviting and welcoming public spaces, personal security, a thriving cultural and arts scene, public institutions – such as schools, kindergartens, community centres, cultural institutions, welfare institutions, religious institutions and more – at the highest standard. Nature has given us a flat, small, almost rainless city – which makes wandering around it wonderful. We did everything else with hard work: we built up Rothschild Boulevard, which runs through the city, as a main business artery; we have invested huge sums in upgrading the beach, parks, streets and squares; we have put a lot of effort into a policy of encouraging nightlife and no less important – in the personal safety of residents; we invest heavily in cultural institutions and in artists themselves. And the result is that Tel Aviv-Yafo is a very fun city for young people today, and where the young people are, is where the businesses are. The most important element of the story, the secret ingredient, is the spirit of the city and its values, and this is what brings those accolades and awards. Your team seems to place a lot of emphasis on listening to the people in the community, through initiatives such as ‘I have an idea’. Why is this important?
Tel Aviv made a strategic decision to empower the process of innovation, expand it, and create municipal platforms to engage with as many people as possible. It is the concept of “harnessing the potential of the entire ecosystem”, in other words: social innovation. Not only do we improve the city and the quality of life for residents, but we foster the spirit of cooperation as a community by empowering the human fabric. This in turn will result in a cohesive, resilient community.
I believe we must harness the entire ecosystem – private to public sector, as well as engage with municipal employees and the community. There is great gain in doing so. Why are you passionate about urban innovation?
Through urban innovation I believe it is our duty as public servants to harness idea contributions and input from all the stakeholders in the urban ecosystem to care, preserve, develop our cities and provide the highest quality of life for the taxpayer. By doing so we instil the merits of accountability, cooperation, engagement, belonging, influence, equal opportunities, inclusion and social responsibility, with one central goal in mind: to build a more cohesive and resilient society.
I get my personal fulfilment by providing the platform and empowering the people to take an active part in this process. The ultimate satisfaction and drive for me is when I see a project born from the people and successfully implemented by the people, and the feedback and feelings of value I receive from the people. This is exactly the hope and culture change that motivates me to believe in urban innovation Tel Aviv-Yafo. Photo credit – Courtesy of Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, Barak Brinker Can you tell use more about Hackatons?
The Municipality hosts a variety of hackathons, both for municipal employees and for entrepreneurs from Tel Aviv and around the world. The main goal is to find and implement solutions for urban challenges that the city faces. For example, our most recent hackathon addressed coronavirus-related challenges faced by cities around the world. Participants had to suggest ideas and develop technological solutions for social and logistical problems such as, “how can the chances for business to overcome the crisis be evaluated?” and, “how can cities assist vulnerable populations during this crisis?”, and lastly, “how can public order and cleanliness be maintained while reducing the spread of the virus?”. I see Tel Aviv’s aim is to position itself as one of the world’s 20 leading global cities. Why is this important and how close is the city to achieving that goal?
Tel Aviv Global & Tourism is a municipal company that reports to the Mayor’s Office at the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality and was established exactly for that goal. It facilitates the global quantum leap taken by the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo in creating economic and tourism growth. The focus of the company is on tourism, economic development and international communications, which involve collaborations with numerous departments at City Hall, including the Media and Marketing Administration, International Relations and others. In light of the vision of the Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Mr. Ron Huldai, the company manages municipal-national initiatives designed to position the city as a hub of innovation and entrepreneurship, a global brand and a leading tourist destination. It also develops and encourages marketing projects that generate interest and curiosity about the values and outputs of Tel Aviv-Yafo and the people living in the city.
Tel Aviv’s vision is to be one of the leading urban destinations in the world by 2030. In the past decade, Tel Aviv-Yafo has taken a significant quantum leap as a tourist destination and has enhanced its standing as a global city that draws millions of tourists and visitors every year. In the coming decade, tourism management in the city will aim to achieve the vision while relying on three key growth drivers.
From 28th May to 25th June, Transition Forum is livestreaming interactive discussions with innovators, business leaders, policymakers and investors on scaling up climate action. Monaco Life readers will receive 15% OFF tickets with the code TF20-Monaco.For more information, visit the website at transition-forum.org
Barclays Private Bank has strengthened its team with the appointment of Olivier Franceschelli, who joins as Head of Private Banking in Monaco.
Mr Franceschelli will lead the Monaco business to drive Barclays’ ambitions in the Principality by delivering tailored services and solutions to high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients in the region. He has extensive knowledge and experience of delivering success in the private banking sector and the Monégasque market, having previously held the position of co-Business Head at CFM Indosuez in Monaco, leading the bank’s Relationship Management teams.
“I’m excited to be joining one of the top private banks in the region and the longest-serving foreign wealth manager in the Principality,” said Olivier Franceschelli. “As part of a major global financial services provider, I believe that Barclays has the right to win in Monaco and I’m thrilled to take part in its continued success and growth.”
Jean-Christophe Gerard, Head of Barclays Private Bank Europe and Monaco, added: “For Barclays in Monaco, Olivier’s arrival marks the next chapter of our almost 100-year history in the Principality, where we continue to bring the full capabilities of a universal British Bank to our clients. Reinforced by Olivier’s expertise, we’ll continue to deliver our leading banking, credit and investments products and solutions to our clients.”
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