He might have made his name as a real-estate player but Donald Trump has once again made some attendees nervous at Mipim, the world’s largest event for the sector. Last year they were cautiously readying themselves for his “Liberation Day” and its barrage of trade tariffs. This time everyone from hotel operators to investors are wondering how much the conflict with Iran will affect their businesses – and profits.

“A few weeks ago, preparing for Mipim, we were feeling upbeat: we could see some clarity in the direction of interest rates and debt,” says Anthony Duggan, chair of Knight Frank Europe, one of the world’s biggest independent real-estate consultancies. “But everything that has happened in recent days has just added an air of confusion into the market.”

This industry, however, is used to dealing with life’s ups and downs, economic cycles and even the occasional pandemic. It can sit out short market shocks and seek new opportunities. And Trump, along with his rupturing of the old US-Europe relationship, has had one positive impact.

“The German government has realised that it needs to step into the space created by the US moving away from Europe,” says Duggan. “It’s considering what that looks like from an infrastructure and investment perspective. Is Germany the future of automotive manufacturing? Maybe it isn’t,” he adds. “But some of those automotive sites are now being transformed into defence sites because the skill sets are the same. It has been coming. In the first quarter of this year, Germany will be the top destination for investment capital.”

There are many others at Mipim who are still looking at the world with a sunny (or sunny-ish) outlook. Felicity Black-Roberts, senior vice-president of development for Hyatt EAME, says that tourism oversaturation in places such as Barcelona and Amsterdam is making second and third-tier cities such as Seville increasingly popular with astute travellers. That’s where Hyatt is investing hard, with some 70 projects in the pipeline in her region.

Hubert Rhomberg, the fourth-generation director of his family’s Austrian property business, is excited about the potential of AI to transform development, predicting that drones will be able to record a site’s construction work in real time and detect anywhere that the project is going astray – in costs or time management.

But perhaps the biggest dreamer is Emin Agalarov, an Azerbaijani pop singer and developer who is overseeing the construction of Sea Breeze on the Caspian Sea. He describes the complex as the largest construction site in Europe, which is set to include a new F1 track, casino, luxury hotels and residences. With its gleaming towers, marina and man-made island, it looks as though it has taken inspiration from Dubai. “There’s no need to try to invent a bicycle,” says Agalarov. “My job as the master developer of this project is to find the best-case scenarios and adapt them to my market.” Indeed he’s also opening a ski-resort modelled on Badrutt’s Palace in St Moritz as part of his Mountain Breeze portfolio. 

At the end of the interview, we ask Agalarov to recommend one of his songs for us to listen to and he chooses a track that speaks to the long-term – perhaps a good Mipim anthem for 2026. “I have been building Sea Breeze for exactly 20 years and it has been the same amount of time since I released my first album. It’s called ‘Still’. [The song of the same name] is one of the best that I have ever written. Check it out.”

Monocle is at Mipim all week. We have a Monocle Radio booth at P-1, D51. Please visit the team if you are in town.

Andrew Tuck is Monocle’s editor in chief. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe today.

Taiwan’s appreciation for print was on full display at Taipei Art Book Fair (TPABF) over the weekend (writes James Chambers). The annual event’s 10th edition took place at the Oma-designed Taipei Performance Arts Center and featured 650 exhibitors, a talk with legendary Japanese editor Kyoichi Tsuzuki, DJ sets and a 40-metre-long laser-art installation created by Aka Chang. “It was truly a monumental collaboration,” says TPABF founder and Taipei-based curator Frank Huang. “This year we saw significant growth in our community, hosting 16,000 paid visitors over the three-day period. The programming was denser than ever.” 

Tieh-Chih Chang, founder and editor in chief of Verse magazine, was among the first through the doors on Friday afternoon. He visits every year to support his friends in the industry and look out for new illustrators. “It’s getting bigger and a lot more international,” he told The Monocle Minute. The latest edition attracted 250 international exhibitors representing 28 countries. Japan accounted for the largest number, including Palmhouse bookshop from Fukuoka. Illustrator Toyameg, the shop’s owner, was selling art and photography books about her trips to Thailand.
 
Huang was running an artist residency village when he first decided to start the book fair. Back then the independent publishing scene in Taiwan was still in its infancy, so he hoped to encourage more people to explore zines and art books. A decade later, the success is clear to see. Boven, Taipei’s one-of-a-kind magazine library, took part again this year and its founder was in good spirits, manning a stall selling books by Japanese illustrator Yunosuke and a special print created for Boven’s own 10-year milestone in 2025. 

What is TPABF’s next chapter? “This summer we are excited to launch the Taipei Art Book Fair Bookstore,” says Huang. “It will be a permanent community hub for book launches, performances and exhibitions, as well as a retail space for our curated selections.” As for the fair itself, Huang is considering doing smaller fairs throughout the year rather than one big jamboree. Taking over the Taipei Performance Arts Center certainly made a big anniversary splash but he wants to focus on fostering “more intimate, physical communication”. Huang still runs the fair as a not-for-profit and shies away from public support and corporate sponsorship. “TPABF is constantly seeking new possibilities for the art-publishing community to flourish,” he says. “We are committed to exploring any organisational format that pushes the boundaries of creativity.”

Switzerland’s arms exporters had a surprisingly busy year in 2025, with overseas shipments climbing 43 per cent to more than €1bn, almost matching the record set in 2022 (writes Laura Kramer). After two lean years, when Bern blocked the re-export of Swiss-made equipment to Ukraine, European demand has roared back. Germany alone bought more than €427m worth of materiel, making it the Alpine country’s biggest customer, followed by the US and a cluster of European countries. In total, 86.1 per cent of exports stayed on the continent. Ammunition and its components accounted for the largest share of deliveries, with armoured vehicles and their parts close behind. The surge is part of a wider trend as Europe bolsters its defences and governments hedge against geopolitical volatility.

For Switzerland, the rebound is a reminder that neutrality doesn’t mean disengagement from the defence economy. The sector remains small – it accounts for some 0.2 per cent of total exports and about 14,000 jobs – but it’s politically sensitive. Lawmakers softened export rules late last year to reassure foreign partners that Swiss firms could remain part of European supply chains. Whether Swiss voters will accept that move is another question. At the beginning of the year, an alliance consisting of Switzerland’s Socialist Party, The Greens and other groups are seeking a referendum to challenge the arms-industry law, which could put the country’s careful balancing act to the test.

Further reading?
– Iran wants a war of attrition. C