The first six months of this year saw strong recovery in most aspects of the economy, however there are sectors that are still struggling with the impact of the Covid pandemic.
The economic year starting 1st January started off with the introduction of the vaccination campaign and the continuation of health measures which allowed for a semblance of normalcy to return.
This created a marked difference between the first half of 2021 versus the previous year. IMSEE decided to compare the two years for their main indicators to highlight the impact of the health crisis.
The first six months of 2021 showed improvement in nearly every aspect on 2020, though there are some notable points that are not quite recovered.
Foreign trade in Monaco, other than with France, is far below pre-pandemic levels, pulled down by imports, whilst exports sit at 2019 levels with the volume of exports nearly back to usual levels. That being said, international overall trade, outside France, is up +13.2%. Deliveries to Italy continue to grow at +12% and trade outside the EU has risen +37.8%, despite EU trade falling a tiny -1.2%.
There is good news in overall turnover depending on the sector. Hotel indicators are improving a bit, but occupancy rates remain abnormally low. Retail trade has had a big boost, rising +40.7% on the previous year, while restaurants saw +23.8% growth. “Other” activities and services saw a huge +50.7% rise on 2020.
Employment has risen significantly but is not quite back to 2019 levels. There is a 3.5 million hour deficit in the number of hours worked compared to the first half of 2019, but a five million hour increase over the same period in 2020.
The new real estate market is weak at 25% below the levels on the previous year but the market for resales improved by +10.4%. The real estate market on the whole, though, is still below pre-crisis levels.
Air traffic is still way down, though public car park usage is on the ups (+18.7%), as are the number of new car registrations, which have risen +52.8% over 2020.
This year’s European Heritage Day will celebrate the largely unsung heroes of the past, putting women firmly in the spotlight and simultaneously launching the Principality’s first ever Women’s Heritage Day.
The 26th annual European Heritage Day in Monaco is, as ever, celebrating the past, but this year, the Principality is specially highlighting women’s contributions to the legacy of the country by also launching the first edition of Women’s Heritage Day.
Monaco’s cultural heritage has been shaped by both men and women, but the latter have been far less visible. In an effort to rectify this, the focus this year is squarely on ladies who have made their marks.
Heritage Day is even themed ‘Women and Heritage’ to show appreciation for the significant contributions women have made.
First celebrated in Monaco in 1996, European Heritage Days were created so that European nations could celebrate the things that make them unique. Initiated by the Council of Europe in 1985, thousands of monuments and sites, some which are otherwise not accessible to the public, open their doors to allow free visits to learn about and protect shared cultural heritage. The events now take place in 50 signatory countries during the month of September.
The European Council explains, “We strive towards a Europe where the diversity of cultures, the arts, and cultural heritage are essential to the development of a genuine openness of mind and basic rights, and where open and interactive processes and practices of culture that combine to help us deal with the complexities of living with ourselves and one another.”
In Monaco, the event is organised by the Cultural Affairs Department in collaboration with the Institut du Patrimoine and this year will be held on 26th September at 40 different and diverse sites, ranging from the Naval Museum to the Sainte-Dévote Church and the Salons of the Monte-Carlo Casino.
The government is using the event as an opportunity for visitors to consider using eco-friendly modes of transport to move around, combining a bit of the new with the old. Special parking rates for the day are being offered at a handful of garages, with a day costing only €4, plus buses are free. The participating parking facilities include the Jardin Exotique, Condamine, Pêcheurs, Stade Louis II, Boulingrins, Grimaldi Forum and La Colle.
Additionally, they are holding the event in strict compliance with health protocols, including mandatory mask wearing, hydroalcoholic gels on the premises and social distancing rules.
To get a full listing of all the events and for more information, visit the event site at https://journeepatrimoinemonaco.com/
Photo: Casino La Fortune, L.Hodebert, Monte-Carlo SBM
Johnathan Taylor, the former SBM Offshore employee who exposed irregular activities at the company, says he will return to Monaco in October to appear before a judge on the condition he be allowed to leave the Principality.
Back in 2012, Johnathan Taylor blew the whistle on corruption at SBM Offshore, for whom he was working with at the time, and provided “evidence about bribes being offered to government officials in return for lucrative contracts,” according to a report by the BBC at the time.
After a series of subsequent events, Taylor was arrested in Dubrovnik, Croatia in July 2020 whilst on holiday with his family via an Interpol red license.
Though never formally charged with any wrongdoing, he remained in jail in Croatia for the next year, with the Croatians citing the need for ongoing investigations into the matter. He was finally released in July of this year after the Justice Minister of Croatia overturned a decision to extradite him to the Principality.
Now Monaco judge Ludovic Leclerc has issued a summons demanding Taylor appear at the Palais de Justice on 11th October for “examination”.
“His presence is compulsory”, states the letter, seen by the BBC, which was sent to Taylor’s French attorney William Bourdon.
“It is now seven years since my former employer, SBM Offshore, reported me to the Monaco prosecutor for alleged attempted extortion,” Taylor explained, and though the complaint was subsequently withdrawn by the firm “years ago”, there are still some issues that the Monaco prosecutor would like cleared up.
Taylor has agreed to return with the understanding that Judge Leclerc agrees that he will be free to leave the Principality once the questioning is over that day.
Recital by Dimitri Goldobine on harpsichord and luth
There are new dates this week in the series of musical events being hosted at St Paul’s Church in Monaco and St Michael’s in Beaulieu.
The next recital is 23rd September at 8:30pm at the Anglican Church in Monaco and on 24th September 8:30pm at the Anglican Church in Beaulieu.
Dimitri Goldobine will present ‘200 years of English music’ on Harpsichord and Luth. He will play music by Byrd, Dowland, Gibbons, Purcell, Blow, Handel and more.
Dimitri was born in Russia where he studied musicology and organ and came to France to study harpsichord and luth. He holds a doctorate in musicology and is professor of ancient instruments at the Conservatory in Cannes.
Dimitri is the author of several musical works for voice, voice and lute, harpsichord, as well as for the Orthodox liturgy.
Tickets for the concerts are €20 and can be bought at the door from 8pm.
In 2019, shortly before the world locked up and we all thought someone had thrown away the key, two people were busy co-founding a business designed to track and trace more than 1,000 invisible pathogens by monitoring both air and surfaces.
Entrepreneur and scientist Sam Molyneux and entrepreneur and technology expert Elizabeth Caley founded Poppy in the USA along with a team of experts in the fields of infectious disease, health security, bioaerosol physics and microbiome metagenomics.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, Will Faimatea, Founder and Director of the technology management and consultancy firm BondTM, was looking into air quality on yachts. “I read that humidity and temperature were measured on board yachts and I figured more could be done,” says Faimatea.
One day, a mutual friend put Sam Molyneux and Will Faimatea in touch and after one phone call, they knew they were onto something. Says Molyneux, “That was a game-changing moment. We’d already thought of cruise ships but not yachts and the conversation with Will was transformative.”
Bond TM and Poppy are now partners in bringing the pathogen testing device to the Côte d’Azur and the superyacht industry. “Our presence at the Monaco Yacht Show represents our first launch outside America so it is very important for us,” explains Poppy Co-CEO Elizabeth Caley. “We’re very keen to make the invisible visible to the yachting industry.”
This year will be Will Faimatea’s eighth year at the MYS and he is pleased the show is going ahead: “We’ll just have to work around the restrictions, but it couldn’t be more topical this year with the pandemic and with Poppy. From that perspective, I’m very enthusiastic about moving forward.”
Says Molyneux, “There’s an urgent need to improve safety in indoor spaces, and Elizabeth and I are looking forward to introducing Monaco and the yacht industry to our pathogen security system and telling the story of what is possible when you bring biotechnology to indoor spaces, whether they are at sea or on land. We are also keen to learn how we can support the region and yachting in general. I’m positive there will be a lot of receptivity from yachts hoping to create safer voyages.” Poppy, a new pathogen detecting device, will be presented during this year’s Monaco Yacht Show in partnership with BondTM
So, what is Poppy? Simply put, the aim of the Poppy device is to make the invisible visible, which the company already does for a variety of spaces such as offices, airports and large performance spaces in America.
The same technology is now available to ships and yachts at a time when it has never been more challenging to navigate airborne infection risks. The detect and monitor device can also be used to identify molds, pests, food-borne bacteria and pathogens like salmonella. “Our ultimate goal,” says Molyneux, “is to produce something that we can call infection-resistant ships that ensure safe voyages for guests, crew and vessel.”
This is done by installing a ‘collector’ device on the yacht that takes samples from the air. The device spits out a DNA tracer created by the Poppy scientists that circulates the yacht in the same way that human breath and pathogens do. “With our technology, such as genetic sequencing and computational analysis, we can map and measure how pathogens move in invisible ways throughout the indoor space,” explains Molyneux. This gives analysts a perfect image of airborne pathogens and it also reflects how ventilation and other safety measures are working onboard.
The second part of the process involves collecting samples of the air in cartridges on an ongoing basis and when the yacht comes to port a biotechnology lab will analyse the presence, identity and changes of 1,000 health related organisms.
The first lab will be based in Monaco and, in close collaboration with BondTM, will eventually role out across the Mediterranean.
A presentation of the track and trace device will take place at the Luxury Lounge next to Steak and Shake on the evening of Friday 24th September.
At close quarters with: Will Faimatea, Founder of BondTM
Where were you born?
Revesby, near Sydney, Australia. If you weren’t Founder of BondTM, what would you be?
If rotation existed back when I worked on yachts, I’d still be an Electro Technical Officer on a superyacht. What’s your advice for someone looking for a career like yours?
Be inquisitive, and do what you do better than it’s been done before. Worst career moment?
When you start your own business, you have to get out there and do public engagements. I remember dreading the Superyacht Forum, but I’m much better now. Most difficult part of your job?
Weaving through the business of politics. Sometimes there is a curtain, and you don’t know what’s behind it. Best part?
Working with great partners like Elizabeth and Sam! What are you most proud of?
I’m proud of developing BondTM to a place where a company like Poppy would consider us as a partner. Favourite meal?
Veal milanese. A figure you admire?
Michael Jordan and his single-mindedness. Favourite restaurant in Monaco?
Caffé Milano or the Quai des Artistes.
Top photo: Will Faimatea on the left, Sam Molyneux on the right
MYS to showcase yacht available to buy with bitcoin
The owner of Azteca, a 72m CRN yacht, says he will accept full payment in bitcoin. The superyacht will be paraded to potential buyers at this week’s Monaco Yacht Show, with an asking price of €65 million.
It is the first time that Azteca has been put up for sale since her delivery in 2010. Her owner, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, owns retail, banking and Mexico’s second largest TV network, TV Azteca. He is also a renowned supporter of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
The superyacht, whose most recent refit took place in 2021, is jointly listed for sale by Edmiston & Company with Camper & Nicholsons International.
“Although cryptocurrency transactions are starting to be reported in the industry, the announcement makes Azteca the largest yacht ever available to be purchased with bitcoin, it is believed,” said Camper & Nicholsons International in a statement.
Azteca will be on display at this year’s Monaco Yacht Show, taking place in the Principality between 22nd and 25th September.
All the headlines and highlights from Monaco, direct to you every morning
