Today and tomorrow representatives from Monaco and more than 100 other countries are attending a summit Los Cabos, Mexico, to address economic issues, measures to be taken to increase transparency and exchange of information about banking and fiscal matters. This is a lead-up to the next G20 meeting at Pittsburgh on September 24th and 25th. So far, Monaco has signed 8 out of 12 accords. HSH Prince Albert II has chosen as his envoy to the summit in Mexico one Franck Biancheri. I cannot help but get a bit nervous whenever these issues are discussed and as much as I would like to see Monaco get past it's reputation as the land of 'sunny skies and shady deals' I am a bit relieved that not all of the accords have been agreed to. As I have expressed before, a country like Monaco needs to have some special incentives to attract business and investment. For a country with no natural resources, little chance of expansion and a native population that depends almost entirely on tourism I fear that if Monaco adopts the policies of other countries (most of which are dominated by anti-profit socialists) they could be signing the death warrant of the Monegasque economy. Thankfully, Prince Albert II seems to realize the need for balance and does seem to understand that a good PR-image is half the battle in these situations -hence his efforts to portray Monaco as an environmentalist haven. I hope all goes well and that this new drive for transparency does not thwart the economic freedom that has given Monaco so much prosperity in recent decades.
For more info read the interview with Mr Biancheri here.
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