Monaco Open for Business: 4 types of financial support for businesses

This article is part of an interview with Monaco Open for Business: Serge Pierryves, Director of Monaco’s Business Development Agency (Direction de l’Expansion Economique).

The Business Development Agent directly manages or intervenes more or less directly in a number of financial aid or investment support programmes, such as Investment Support, Financing Innovation, Financing Exports and Support for Marketing Development Activities. This support is available for all businesses of the Principality, according to certain criteria of eligibility.

Other support, relating to, for example, employment, or the environment, is also available, but this is not managed by the BDA.

Investment Support
There are two types of investment support that may concern all businesses in the Principality: an Interest Rate Subsidy, and a Monegasque Credit Guarantee Fund.

The effect of the Interest Rate Subsidy is to reduce the real interest rate of a loan fixed by the financial institution to the three-month EURIBOR rate, plus 0.75 points. This subsidy reduces the bank interest rate by a maximum of 2 percent, or 3 percent in certain cases.

The Monegasque Credit Guarantee Fund can guarantee a bank loan from a Monegasque financial institution for up to 80 percent (excluding taxes) of the finance needed to set up, transfer or expand a business (50 percent for the intangible assets of a commercial business). Amounts guaranteed are between €50,000 and €1,000,000.

Financing Innovation
The Business Development Agency manages two funds aimed at supporting innovative projects for all companies in the Principality: The Monegasque Fund for Innovation and the Monegasque EUREKA Fund. The Monegasque government also holds 100 percent shares in a venture capital company, the SACDE whose aim is to support innovation in Monaco.

The Monegasque Fund for Innovation offers financial support to Monegasque businesses for projects leading to a technologically innovative product, or process that can show real commercial potential within a period of 12 to 24 months. The support is in the form of repayable loans or subsidies.

The Monegasque EUREKA Fund supports collaborative projects carried out with at least one partner from one of the 41 EUREKA member countries (Monaco joined the EUREKA programme on January 1, 2005). This financial aid is also in the form of repayable loans or subsidies, but the “time to market” must not exceed 18 months.

SACDE (Société d’Aide à la Création et au Développement d’Entreprise), which is managed by the Department of Finance and the Economy, with operational support from the Business Development Agency, can offer financial support to businesses with a minimum anteriority that are developing innovative projects.

See also Financial aid for setting up a business in Monaco

Financing Exports
All businesses based in Monaco can benefit from financial support to cover the costs of participating as exhibitors at a Trade Fair abroad (including France). This support is to help finance the expenses incurred by a company participating as an exhibitor at an international Trade Fair, such as the cost of rental and setting up of stands, transport and travel costs. It takes the form of repayable loans that cover 65 percent (75 percent for Japan). The maximum budget is defined contractually.

Support for Marketing Development Activities
This is aimed at industrial, or industrial services companies with fewer than 250 employees and a turnover of under €40 million to support the creation and setting up of a commercial service or the marketing of a new product or a new range of products.

Support is in the form of a subsidy capped at €30,000 over 12 months, paid in two instalments.

READ ORIGINAL INTERVIEW

Monaco Open for Business: Laurence Garino of Monaco Welcome Office