Monaco’s Chamber of Commerce Takes the Initiative in the Asian Market

Monaco’s Chamber of Commerce means business. During their 32nd meeting, recently held at the Monte Carlo Beach Hotel, Michel Dotta, President of the Chamber of Commerce, outlined their program for the second semester. The Chamber also leveraged the occasion to organize meetings between Monaco businesses under the title “Business to Business” or “BtoB”.

It is amazing how in such a small place as Monaco, businesses in the Principality still need to learn more about each other. Business opportunities flow from these micro-meetings of ten minutes; they are very important – there were 62 of them in all, with 90 people taking part. That covered as many as 14 different sectors of activity in the Principality.

There is a renewed push by the Chamber of Commerce seeking business opportunities in Asia. Michel Dotta outlined plans for two upcoming targeted trips – one to China and one to Vietnam. The last trip to China was in 2015. Since then, of course, Monaco has a much higher profile with Chinese decision makers. And this year Prince Albert II will be inaugurating the “Princes and Princesses of Monaco” Expo in the Forbidden City. So the Chamber of Commerce is taking advantage of that to conduct a Business Mission in Beijing from September 4th to September 8th.

Then an exciting new target for this year is Vietnam which is one of the emerging economic dragons of Asia. November would be the perfect time to visit Vietnam during the official visit to Hanoi by Prince Albert. An ambassadors’ lunch, with Thiep Nguyen representing Vietnam, is taking place currently to plan the reception for Prince Albert in advance of the visit of Monaco’s Sovereign. Vietnam presents a brand new opportunity for Monaco’s business sector.

The Chamber of Commerce is also encouraging the 300 people who attend its meetings to be especially aware of two important areas, the information sector and the energy sector. For the latter, the focus is on the National Pact for Energy Transition. Already 57 organizations have signed up. More are being encouraged to do so. Michel Dotta, President of the Chamber of Commerce, stressed that Monaco absolutely must take a leadership position in both sectors – information and energy are critical to Monaco’s success. There lies a challenge and also a promising future.