The Monaco et Suisse Investment Forum took on a decidedly international flair this year, inviting exhibitors from around Europe and the Middle East to join its already impressive cache.
Held on 17th March at the Yacht Club of Monaco, the Monaco et Suisse Investment Forum saw investors, entrepreneurs, family offices and end-use customers come together for a day of networking, talks and conferences that were designed to showcase the possibilities of collaborations between businesses in Monaco and Switzerland.
This year, there was an added element in that companies from Romania, Luxembourg, Germany and the United Arab Emirates were also invited to attend, giving the event a broader scope of potential investors and partnerships.
On the agenda: real estate, yachts, aviation, tech and sustainability
There were a total of seven conferences, which covered multiple topics from Swiss tourism to the economy of the Principality, and from sustainability to micro-finance investments and the private jet industry.
Raffaello Cairoli, the director of the Monaco et Suisse Investment Forum and co-founder of Cairoli Monaco Luxury Services, opened the day with a welcome speech for the 280 guests in attendance.
This was followed by a number of enlightening talks from major Monaco players who have links to the forum, such as Brand Therapy creator Trudy Berger, L-Evento founder Sheila De Lucia, Repeople’s Paolo Caspani, Business Development Manager at the Monaco Economic Board Margherita Colombo Pastorelli, Guy Antognelli of the Monaco Tourist and Convention Authority, Massimo Boni representing the Lugano region, and Luca Sassi of EFG Bank Monaco.
Amongst the prestigious invitees were representatives from top drawer real estate agencies and developers, yacht companies, financial services, the design and gaming industries, the aviation sector, and sustainability experts.
In addition to the networking event, guests were invited to two other social gatherings. The first preceded the main event with a VIP invite to the McLaren boutique on the evening of 16th March. Guests created new connections while tasting wines from Tenuta Torciano Winery and sampling a delicious menu by Chef Renato Bernardi.To close the forum on a high, guests at the Yacht Club de Monaco were later invited to Caffé Milano for a more casual get-together at this harbour-side Monaco icon.
Click on the gallery below for more photos of the 2023 Monaco and Swiss Investment Forum:
The pressure was on this weekend for firefighters in Nice and the hinterland of Tende and Saint Auban, who battled multiple fires fed by dry vegetation and high winds.
Around 30 hectares of land burnt in the Alpes-Maritimes department over the course of the weekend, with the biggest two fires noted near Nice, a third in Saint Auban above Grasse, and a fourth close to the Italian border town of Tende. A further two smaller fires were reported by the Sapeurs Pompiers 06.
All began on Saturday 1st April, but were brought under control by the following day thanks to the valiant efforts of the 450 firefighters who were mobilised to tackle the blazes.
Firefighters on the scene in Saint Auban had a tough time containing the blaze due to the difficult terrain, and the use of helicopters was necessary to assist in their efforts. Meanwhile in Tende, five hectares were destroyed as flames came perilously close to homes in the small mountain village. The fire brigade performed edge flooding operations to control the fire.
The Nice fires affected both the road to Aspremont and the road to Colomars, and forced evacuations of 54 people in the early hours of Saturday morning in Colomars. Aerial drops were performed and five firefighters on the scene were overcome by fumes. Two were taken to hospital. Roughly eight hectares in the Aspremont area was blackened, and a further 10 hectares of land were destroyed in Colomars.
FIRE SEASON KICKS IN
In France, the forest fire season typically begins in mid-March and lasts around four months. There were 423 fire alerts reported between April 2022 and March 2023: this is unusually high compared to previous annual averages.
The lionfish is spreading throughout the Mediterranean. In its wake, as the species edges ever closer to the shores of Monaco, it leaves behind devastated ecosystems and crippled fishing industries. So what can be done to stop it?
During Monaco Ocean Week, Enrico Toja and his team from the Elafonisos Eco Association held a conference on ‘The Lionfish Threat’ at the Yacht Club de Monaco. In sobering terms, he revealed the very serious – and very pressing – matter of halting its invasion of the Mediterranean.
In an interview with Monaco Life, Toja explains what can be done and why we need to act now.
The fastest growing invasion ever reported in the Mediterranean
Lionfish have been documented in the Mediterranean, notably in Cyprus and Crete, for at least the last decade. Today, they are found throughout the Aegean Sea and populations are rising in the Ionian too.
A native of the Indo-Pacific region, they are believed to have made their way through the Suez Canal as the temperatures of the Mediterranean have warmed significantly in recent years – at a rate 20% faster than the global average, according to a UN report.
“Now we are seeing them in Sicily and Calabria,” says Toja, an Italian native who has been living in the Principality for the last 30 years. “I expect that we will find them in Sardinia by this summer, and in Corsica by the following year. Every year, the Mediterranean gets warmer and, within the next five to six years, if we do nothing to stop them, there will be lionfish swimming in front of the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco, not just in the tanks of its aquarium.”
Lionfish could reach the shores of Monaco within the next five to six years. Photo: Joan Li
Many people believe the lionfish to be a deadly and poisonous fish that could kill a human, but this is nothing more than a rumour, says Toja.
“If you come into touch with a lionfish, you’ll get a sting like you would from a jellyfish,” he explains. “After 20 minutes of being killed, they are completely safe to touch and eat. There is no venom left.”
Still, it is this persistent reputation that has caused Enrico and his lionfish-battling vanguard some issues in spreading awareness with their campaign, which began on the Greek island of Elafonisos.
From untouched beauty to a devastated coastline
Toja has been travelling to Elafonisos for a long time. He remembers it when there were no roads, no electricity and virtually no other visitors. This has changed in time, but the island has managed to retain much of its natural, unspoilt beauty. Unless, that is, you look beneath the waves.
Soon after the lionfish was spotted in other southerly parts of the Mediterranean, it was found in Elafonisos.
“The lionfish is a rapidly reproducing species. The females can produce 40,000 eggs every two weeks, more than one million eggs per year,” says Toja. “It is a predator fish that will eat up all the octopus and all the sardines in an area. A lionfish can eat up to six times its weight. I’ve seen them eating – they open their mouths so wide – it’s incredible.”
A talented spearfisher can catch as many as 200 lionfish a day off the coast of Elafonisos. Photo: Giles Harvey
It was quickly realised that it was a problem, but the ingrained image of the fish as a creature that could fatally harm a human kept many away.
“Most fishermen in Elafonisos were scared of lionfish at the start,” Toja explains. “They’d tell me, ‘No, we can’t touch them, they’ll kill us!’ The fishermen knew the lionfish were a problem, they were aware, but they didn’t understand that if they left the fish alone, lionfish would wipe out all the fish in the area.”
After the launch of the Elafonisos Eco Association, a non-profit organisation that is supported by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and promotes the fight against the lionfish invasion, the island’s fishing industry got onboard and was soon pulling up nets full of the fish.
“You cannot just have one island that is completely safe”
Elafonisos might be doing all it can to pull lionfish out of its waters – as many as 200 per day for the skilled spearfishing diver and 100 a day for fishermen with nets – but, as Toja explains, “You cannot just have one island that is completely safe.”
The Mediterranean is not getting any cooler any time soon, so the lionfish aren’t going to be driven out that way, and there is no major predator in the sea that can pick off such strong numbers. The best predator out there is… Us.
Soon to be staple on the menus of the Principality?
A flaky white fish, often described as similar to mahi mahi and grouper, it is “very, very, very good”, according to the former Vice-President of Europe for Johnson & Johnson.
“Ceviche, grilled, fried, in soups… It is a delicious fish,” he says. “Our big ambition is to have lionfish on the menu in the Hôtel de Paris and the Hôtel Hermitage and all the other great restaurants in Monaco. Monaco has already shown itself to be a great actor in preserving biodiversity, Prince Albert does a lot of work in this field. For me, Monaco could become the leading nation for studies of lionfish and concrete action plans to stop its invasion.”
Doctor Nathalie Hilmi of the Centre Scientifique de Monaco visited Elafonisos last year, and two of her Masters’ students have spent time analysing the situation on the island. Prince Albert is expected to travel out there during the summer to see the work being done on the ground.
“We need to start with educating the consumer,” says Toja on the delectability of the fish. “We need a supply chain and distribution; we need to see it fresh and frozen in fish counters.”
Responsible consumption, but from a new standpoint
It’s a far cry from the usual call of environmentalists, who more often than not advise us of which fish to avoid eating in order to protect stocks. Here it is the opposite: eat lionfish, is the message, and eat plenty of it to preserve the Mediterranean’s ecosystem from an irrevocable threat. This is not just about Monaco, of course, but the entire and interlinked Mediterranean Sea.
Toja and his team are taking inspiration from the Michelin-starred Colombian chef Jorge Rausch of Criterión in Bogotá, who has championed the use of lionfish in cuisine, noting its impeccable flavour and the positive impact its consumption can have on the recovery of native species.
“We could just kill the lionfish and throw them back to the sea for other fish to eat,” says Toja, “and you can even make jewellery from some parts of the fish… But I think we should be eating it.”
What better excuse could there be for encouraging an industry that solves a potentially deadly problem?
Now we must just wait for restaurants in the Principality to catch on to the idea. Hopefully it is not too long before this tasty – and beautiful – fish starts appearing on our plates.
Carrefour supermarket has launched an ingenious scheme that allows customers to drop off items not usually recycled in exchange for vouchers up to €15.
A first in all of Europe, Carrefour supermarkets in France are inviting customers to bring in products that typically end up in the bin and swap them for cash vouchers. In a collaboration with TerraCycle and five corporate partners – Bic, DIM, Hasbro, Philips and Tefal – the project should help customers’ purchasing power and reduce waste.
SEPARATE KIOSKS FOR DIFFERENT ITEMS
The kiosks will be split into six categories of products that are not accepted in home recycling bins. These include, but are not limited to: toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes; razors and blades; writing instruments; tights, stockings, knee-highs and socks made of synthetic fibres; damaged toys; and pots and pans.
In return for their goods, shoppers will then receive coupons ranging from €0.50 to €15 from the project’s partners, regardless of the state of the items or the brand. These vouchers will be redeemable on items from the partner brands.
The kiosks are currently set up at six locations, including locally at Nice-Lingostière.
The products dropped off will be taken to a TerraCycle site, a company that specialises in “difficult to recycle” items, where they will be repurposed into new objects, such as benches, flowerpots or building materials.
“Thanks to this recycling solution in the parking lot of Carrefour stores, we are providing a simple and local solution to our customers, which will make it easier for them to sort [waste], while allowing them to receive a voucher,” said Carine Kraus, Executive Director of Engagement for the Carrefour Group. “It is very important, in the current context of inflation, to show that we can reconcile the environment and purchasing power.”
The “Fresh Prince of Monaco”, Hugo Micallef, remains unbeaten in professional boxing after a win against Italian Alessandro Fersula in Germany on Saturday.
Monaco’s great boxing prospect continues to impress since turning professional back in September 2021. Fersula is his sixth victim after successes against Lesther Lara, Ezequiel Gregores, Gonzalo OmarManriquez, Mauro Loli and Illias Kallouch.
Micallef won the fight, his first since December 2022, on points. The 25-year-old was once again against a more experienced fighter, but was unfazed. The “Fresh Prince of Monaco” condemned his 30-year-old opponent to his fourth defeat in 13 professional fights.
“In the first eight rounds, Hugo showed lots of skill and power against sn opponent as big as him,” said the father of the Monégasue super lightweight, André Micallef post-match. The identity of Micallef’s next opponent is yet to be revealed.
A new page will be written in the history of Monaco in 2026 when the Venturi FLEX Rover departs Earth on a SpaceX expedition to the Moon.
The Flexible Logistics and Exploration Rover – known as FLEX for short – is the culmination of a project that was first conceived in the Principality in 2019 by the Venturi Group’s president, Gildo Pastor.
Now a highly skilled international team of engineers and scientists from the fields of space mobility, terrestrial and planetary robotics, advanced technology research, electromobility, fuel cells and batteries, hydrogen storage, composite materials and processes manufacturing, and hailing from Monaco, Switzerland and the US, is seeing its dreams become reality with the inclusion of the FLEX Rover in SpaceX’s 2026 lunar operation.
“The time has come to go further and put the Venturi Group in the history books…”
“Over the past two decades the Venturi Group has developed some truly unique, high performance electric vehicles,” says Pastor. “The time has come to go further and put the Venturi Group in the history books… Upon completion of this mission, the FLEX rover will be the largest and most capable rover ever to travel to the Moon. This is an extraordinary achievement and one that is a highlight of my professional life, a life that has always been characterised by innovation, adventure and the realisation of dreams I was told were impossible to fulfill. As important as this milestone is, I know it’s just the first of many that Venturi and Astrolab will achieve.”
The rover itself is revoluntionary. As the unique characteristics of the lunar environment impose “a multitude of challenges”, FLEX has been designed to withstand temperatures of -90°C to -230°C, resist radiation and be operational for at least a fortnight in the pitch blackness of the southern pole of the Moon.
“The rover will have to be able to traverse semi-autonomously, be piloted by the astronauts on board, be commanded from the future station in lunar orbit, and also from Earth,” say the team behind its design.
“We have created much more than a rover for use on the Moon or Mars,” says Jaret Matthews, the founder and CEO of Venturi Astrolab, the US branch of the partnership. “FLEX is a logistics system capable of handling a wide variety of cargo. We believe that this approach will enable a permanent lunar outpost to be established on the Moon at a lower cost and in less time than expected. We are delighted that this contract with SpaceX will allow Venturi Astrolab to demonstrate the benefits of the FLEX rover and its modular payload system.”
