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Day: 3 February 2023

Saudi Arabia hosts Monaco Economic Board with hopes of establishing new business partnerships

by: Stephanie Horsman
03/02/2023
monaco economic board

Future business partnerships and opportunities were top of the agenda for the Monaco Economic Board as it headed to Saudi Arabi, at the express invitation of the kingdom, for the Diriyah Formula E-Prix.  

When something is right, it’s right, and in the case of business, this has never been truer than in the case of Monaco and Saudi Arabia.  

The Principality, via the Prince Albert II Foundation and the Monaco Economic Board, were recently invited to a three-day welcome event in Saudi Arabia where entities such as the Federation of the Chambers of Commerce of Saudi Arabia, the Chamber of Commerce of Riyadh and investment organisation Invest Saudi were on hand to discuss the myriad possibilities of doing business between the two nations.  

Of great interest to the Saudis were Monaco’s significant investments abroad in the fields of technology, innovation, mobility, energy and sustainability, citing MonacoTech as a potential breeding ground for future collective endeavours.  

As part of the welcome, representatives were invited to the Formula E-Prix that took place on 28th January in Diriyah and had a chance to see first-hand the “quality of the companies” in the Gulf and specifically in Saudi Arabia.   

 

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Photo source: Monaco Economic Board

 

Photos: Nice to plant vast urban forest in Promenade du Paillon

by: Elsa Carpenter
03/02/2023
promenade du paillon nice

The Promenade du Paillon is growing, with thousands of native species trees to be planted and vast public gardens set to adorn the heart of Nice by 2025.  

For more than a decade, the Coulée Verte, a series of public spaces and exotic gardens that trace the ancient riverbed of the Paillon River, has provided entertainment, relief from city life and – not to be underestimated – shade to the residents of Nice. Now, Stage Two of the project has begun.  

By the end of 2025, the attraction is set to grow by an additional 20 hectares of greenery and wellbeing. Starting where the current park ends at the Traverse de la Bourgada and continuing a linear kilometre to the Traverse Monnet and Parvis de l’Europe in the Riquier neighbourhood, where the river heads underground, this second phase of urban regeneration will transform the cityscape and undoubtably improve city life for the populace.  

1,500 Mediterranean trees and shrubs, specifically picked due to their drought-resistance and suitability to the Niçois climate, are to be planted in a series of gardens as well as a bamboo forest. The MAMAC is to receive exterior updates to the tune of €20 million, and the areas around the Promenade du Paillon will benefit too, thanks to renovated and enlarged pavements for pedestrians, bi-directional cycle lanes, additional bus stops and, of course, trees to line their streets.

Click on the images below to enlarge…

Promenade du Paillon: more than just a beauty project

But this isn’t just a beautification project. The new spaces, designed by the teams of renowned architects and designers João Luís Carrilho da Graça and Alexandre Chemetoff, will absord an estimated 1.74 tonnes of CO2 and an extra one tonne of other atmospheric pollutants per year as well as six to eight decibels of urban noise pollution. Poor air quality and high air pollution are believed to kill around 40,000 in France every year.  

In order to make way for the new €75 million development, a series of landmarks must be demolished. The Théâtre National de Nice has already gone and next up is the Acropolis congress and exhibition space, a mountain of concrete and steel that will cost upwards of €10 million to bring down. This work was scheduled to begin in January, but intervention from the city’s legal tribunal has put a pause a temporary hold on any action for now.  

Click on the images below to enlarge…

 

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Photos from Ville de Nice