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Profile

Day: 8 July 2021

Clean Equity conference to focus on sustainable tech 

by: Stephanie Horsman
08/07/2021

Clean Equity Monaco, an invitation-only conference showcasing the best new sustainable technology companies, is returning to the Principality this month to wow investors and get the word out on what they’re doing to change the world.  

Hosted by Innovator Capital Bank and the Principality of Monaco, Clean Equity is back on 22nd and 23rd July and opening its doors to 30 up-and-coming sustainable technology companies who will be presenting their ideas and products to financiers who may be able to make their dreams realities.

The chosen companies are given the opportunity to present to and meet with prominent corporate, financial, strategic, sovereign and family investors, as well as government officials, end users, trade media outlets and known industry representatives in a bid to raise funds to take their visions to the next level.

Companies send two representatives and are each allotted a 20-minute presentation as well as a question-and-answer period to expose their projects to the right investors. This is further strengthened by networking sessions, lunches, workshops and a gala dinner that ends with the best of the best be chosen for the Clean Equity Awards.

The awards, which are created by renowned artists, are presented by Prince Albert II and are given for excellence in three areas, namely research, development and commercialisation.

This year’s event will expand on last year’s with a vast audience joining the conference via live streaming brought by partner EarthX. They are looking to top last year’s online attendance, which hit 25,000 people.

Since the expo was founded 13 years ago, they have been able to introduce and nurture more than 350 companies who have gone on to raise more than $2 billion in capital.

 
 

CID to step up support for graduates

by: Stephanie Horsman
08/07/2021

The Graduates Integration Commission says it will be offering individualised coaching and targeted networking opportunities to Monaco graduates to help them find jobs in this post-pandemic environment.

The 11th Graduates Integration Commission (CID) meeting was held this week to present its annual report for 2020 as well as to speak about its progress thus far in 2021.

The CID is the body that aims to develop local links between students and university graduates in the Monaco public and private business landscape. It not only provides job leads but also support for young people who are looking to find a career path suited to them.

In its meeting, the CID highlighted that there was a significant increase in its activity over the last 16 months, as young people looking for jobs have been severely curtailed in their efforts due to the effects of the health crisis.

To this end, the members of the commission spoke of what they can do in the coming months, in light of economic recovery, to further integrate the youth being assisted by CID. To make this happen, they have proposed individualised coaching as well as targeted networking opportunities with potential partner companies to facilitate employers meeting possible new employees.

The 2022 theme of the commission will be ‘The professions of the future and tomorrow’, in order to highlight the professions which are currently recruiting but also those which do not yet exist and which will be followed by today’s high school students.

 
Photo by Manuel Vitali, Government Communication Department
 

Picasso to Koons: Jewellery by Artists

by: Stephanie Horsman
08/07/2021

A unique display of fine jewellery created by world-famous artists and passionately collected by Diane Venet is being exhibited at the Grimaldi Forum from Sunday 11th July.
Diane Venet, wife of artist Bernar Venet, began her unique collection of jewellery made by artists in 1967 when she purchased a brooch created by painter Roy Lichtenstein in New York. Her collection began in earnest though after meeting her husband in 1985, when she decided to dedicate all her purchases to commissions from artists.
For over 30 years, she has amassed an extraordinary selection of more than 230 pieces made exclusively by artists, 180 of which will be presented at the Grimaldi Forum.
Well-known artists such as Pablo Picasso, Jeff Koons, Niki de Saint-Phalle, Keith Haring and Roy Lichtenstein all created pieces either bought or made for Venet’s collection.
“These creations are always the result of an encounter, whether with the artists themselves or with other collectors,” says Venet. “Both groups have encouraged me. They have given me no small amount of support in my discovery of this new world where art, seemingly at play, surpasses itself.”
Diane Venet came from a family of art collectors and her father, Jacques Segard, was chairman of the Friends of the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris. She met and married Bernar Venet in the mid-1980’s in New York, where she helped him organise his exhibits and became an avid collector of art herself.
Her idea for exhibiting her jewellery came in 2008, when it received such acclaim that she took her show on the road presenting at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, the Benaki Museum in Athens, Miami’s Bass Museum, and the Seoul Art Centre in South Korea, to name a few.
Picasso to Koons: Jewellery by Artists will run from 11th July to 19th August at the Grimaldi Forum.
 
 

Summer fun at the Oceanographic Museum

by: Stephanie Horsman
08/07/2021

The Oceanographic Museum is a great place to go to beat the heat this summer with fun, interactive experiences for all to enjoy. To sweeten the pot, from 5th July to 29th August, guests can take advantage of special rates for those arriving before 11am or after 5pm.

Some of the highlights include the Great Barrier Reef exhibition, Immersion, which allows visitors the chance to virtually dive 10 metres deep and meet the “great eight” living icons of this incredible undersea world. Be prepared to see sharks on their nightly hunt, parades of manta rays and baby turtles taking their first baths in their natural surroundings, classified as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Entry is free to this exhibit.

Visitors can also encounter the animals of the Mediterranean coast at the museum’s Touch Basin. Located in the educational room, kids can see real live sea cucumbers, crabs, starfish and a variety of other species, learning how they move, what they eat and what their roles are in the grand scheme. The 30-minute adventure runs from 11am to 5:30pm daily with a cost of €36 per family, limited to six people.

The museum also boasts a fantastic Discovery Escape Room. Family and friends join in this time-space journey to try and find their way back to “port” aboard Prince Albert I’s famous laboratory ship, the Princesse Alice II. Players have to complete their mission by solving puzzles, deciphering codes and using team-building communication to avoid sinking the ship. There are two levels, the first a 30-minute beginner level or a 60-minute advanced level format.

People can also check out the virtual reality films taking them to mythical places under the sea with ImmerSEAve 360º. During this 30-minute event, viewers watch two films, Little Big Whale, following the voyages of a sperm whale in the big ocean, followed by Tubbataha 360º, a journey to the Philippines’ natural park Tubbataha, one of the most beautiful places on Earth, where guests can dive, without masks or snorkels, to its depths witnessing all that it has to offer. Tickets are €6 for those over 12 years old, or €20 for a family of two adults and two children.

For something a bit more comprehensive, the museum is putting on five-day events during the summer holidays for nine to 12 years olds running from 5th July to 3rd September. For a whole week, kids can participate in loads of activities and games, all whilst learning about the wonders of the sea. The day runs from 9am to 5pm and the cost is €350 per child for the week. There is a cap of 10 kids per session.

As with all the events at the museum, strict sanitary measures are in place, as are social distancing rules and the obligatory wearing of masks.

 
 
Photo by Cory Trepanier
 
 
 

Summer of diplomatic missions for Monaco

by: Stephanie Horsman
08/07/2021

The hot summer days haven’t stopped the wheels of diplomacy from turning for representatives of the Principality who have been busy at work. Monaco’s Embassy in Berlin recently hosted a cross border event, while a meeting with delegates from Djibouti took place in Monaco.

Monaco has been busy on the diplomatic front these past weeks, first hosting a videoconference event at the Embassy in Berlin bringing together Honorary Consuls from Germany, Poland and Austria on 25th June, followed on 7th July by a meeting between Minister for External Relations and Cooperation Laurent Anselmi and the country of Djibouti.

In Berlin, the consular corps of the Principality in Germany, Austria and Poland met via videoconference to discuss the highlights of the years 2020 and 2021 so far, as well as the primary health and economic measures put in place by the government in response to the pandemic.

The consuls were then able to discuss the situations encountered in their own regions and the activities carried out for the benefit of the Principality, despite the constraints.

Frédéric Labarrere, Ambassador of the Principality of Monaco to Germany, Austria and Poland, led the meeting that included the Austrian consulate in Vienna, the Polish one in Warsaw and the six consulate offices in Germany in the cities of Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Potsdam and Stuttgart.

Photo of Consul videoconference meeting, by DR

Additionally, three representatives from Monaco, Michel Bouquier from Monaco Private Label, Guy Antognelli, Director of Tourism and Congress and Guillaume Rose, the Executive Director of the Monaco Economic Board, spoke to the assembled group followed by a toast in honour of the Prince and his family.

Then on the 7th of July, Laurent Anselmi, Minister for External Relations and Cooperation, met with the Ambassador to the Presidency of Djibouti, Alexis Mohamed and Jean-Jacques Robin, Honorary Consul of Djibouti in Monaco, for a working meeting and lunch.

The meeting covered the possibility of a rapprochement between the two nations and to look at mutual economic activities.

In addition, a meeting with representatives of the Monaco Economic Board (MEB) and the Club of Monegasque Entrepreneurs in Africa (CEMA) was held in order to study the possibility of organising an economic mission between the Principality and the Republic of Djibouti.

Also during this meeting, a visit was made by the Ambassador to the Presidency of Djibouti to Monaco’s Minister of State, Pierre Dartout.

 
 
 
Top photo of Alexis Mohamed by DR, Government Communication Department