Overview
The Economist Events and Hazlis and Rivas are proud to announce the organization of the 25th Roundtable with the Government of Greece on July 8th-9th 2021. Government officials, corporate decision-makers, academics and leading thinkers will once again come together in an open dialogue on issues that define our world.
Speakers
- All
Daniel Franklin
Executive and diplomatic editor, The Economist
Daniel Franklin has been executive editor of The Economist since 2006 and the newspaper’s diplomatic editor from mid-2018. For 17 years until 2020 he was editor of The Economist’s annual publication, The World in..., which focuses on the year ahead.
His book on the future of technology, Megatech: Technology in 2050, was published in 2017, building on his previous book on long-term trends, Megachange: The World in 2050, published in 2012.
He joined The Economist in 1983 to write about Soviet and East European affairs. As the newspaper’s Europe editor from 1986 to 1992 he covered the great European upheavals, from the collapse of communism to the signing of the Maastricht treaty. After a stint as Britain editor he moved to the United States as Washington bureau chief, covering the first Clinton term. In 1997 he moved back to London as editorial director of the Economist Intelligence Unit. From 2006 to 2010 he was editor-in-chief of Economist.com, and was the newspaper’s business-affairs editor from 2010 to 2014.
Joan Hoey
Editorial director, The Democracy Index, Europe consultant, The Economist Group
Joan is the director for The Economist's flagship annual Democracy Index, recognised by governments, international organisations, corporates and academia as a leading measure of global democracy. She is an expert on European political economy, with a special interest in democracy, governance, political risk and east European post-communist transition, and a writer on international affairs.
Joan is a former regional director for Europe at the Economist Intelligence Unit, leading a team of analysts covering 50 countries in Europe and central Asia, and now works as a consultant for the Economist Group. Joan joined EIU in 1995, working as a senior analyst for Eastern Europe before becoming regional manager and then director for Europe.
She began her career as a journalist covering UK and Irish affairs, before developing her interest and expertise in Eastern Europe over several decades from the late 1980s. She covered the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the wars in the former Yugoslavia, before pursuing her career in country analysis and forecasting. Joan studied British, American and European History at Sussex University. She pursued postgraduate studies in Industrial Relations, and having grown up in a mill town in Lancashire, focused her research on the first major immigrant strike in Britain, by Asian and West Indian workers at Courtaulds’ Red Scar Mills factory in Preston in 1965.
Joan is often invited to share her perspectives on Europe with senior corporate executives, academics and diplomatic officials. She is an accomplished chairperson. She has chaired more than 50 Economist events, including prime ministers, presidents and senior government ministers and business leaders. She is an experienced public speaker, and has spoken at many international forums, and is a frequent commentator on European affairs.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis
Prime minister, Greece
Kyriakos Mitsotakis was sworn in as prime minister of the Hellenic Republic on July 8th, 2019.
He led his party to a landslide victory three years later, campaigning on a platform for jobs, strong growth and lower taxes. Nea Demokratia was the first party to win an absolute majority in the Greek Parliament since 2009.
A member of the Parliament since 2004, Kyriakos Mitsotakis has participated in the Committee for Constitutional Amendment, the Committee for Trade and the Committee for National Defence. He was also an active member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
Before entering politics, he worked for ten years in the private sector as a financial analyst with Chase Investment Bank, a consultant with McKinsey and Company and finally as CEO of NBG Venture Capital at the National Bank of Greece.
Alexis Tsipras
President of the Coalition of Radical Left (SYRIZA)-Progressive Alliance, leader of the main opposition, Greece
Alexis Tsipras was born in 1974. He entered into a civil partnership with Betty Baziana, and together, they have two sons. He studied Civil Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens, from which he later received a graduate degree in Urban and Regional Planning.
He was secretary of the youth wing of the "Coalition of the Left, Movements and Ecology", from 1999 to 2003. In 2006, he was elected councilman of Athens. In 2008, he was elected party president during the 5th Congress of the "Coalition of the Left", and then re-elected during the 6th Congress in June 2010. He has served as president of SYRIZA from the founding party congress in July 2013.
Since December 2012, he has served as vice-president of the "European Left" party (EL). In December 2013, he was nominated EL`s candidate for president of the European Commission.
He was elected MP and head of the Parliamentary Group of SYRIZA during the national elections of 2009. He was re-elected MP during the national elections in May and July 2012, and became leader of the opposition.
On January 26, 2015, he was sworn in as prime minister of Greece.
On September 21, 2015 Alexis Tsipras took the oath of office as prime minister of Greece for a second time.
He is currently serving as leader of the opposition since the last elections, on July 2019.
Michael Arghyrou
Chairman, Council of Economic Advisers, Greece
Michael G. Arghyrou was born in Nicosia in 1972. He is a graduate of the department of Economics of the Athens University of Economics and Business, and holds a master’s and doctoral degree in Economics from
the University of London (Queen Mary).
Since July 2019 he has been head of the Council of Economic Advisers and professor of economics at the department of economics of the University of Piraeus. Previously, he was a lecturer, assistant and associate professor of economics at Cardiff University (2005-19) and a lecturer in economics at Brunel University (1998-2005). His main research interests are international monetary relations, international macroeconomics and the Greek economy. His academic publications cover topics including the European sovereign debt crisis, applied monetary policy, public debt sustainability, as well as exchange rates, current account determination and international trade/ investment.
He is a member of the Scientific Council of the Konstantinos Karamanlis Institute of Democracy in Athens, a member of the research network of the Munich CESifo Group and a member of the Julian Hodge Institute of applied macroeconomics.
Demetri Argyropoulos
CEO, Avant Global
As Founder, Chairman & CEO , Demetri is not only the driving force behind Avant Global’s vision, but also the principal architect of the firm’s strategy. He is highly regarded in the global business community for his proven track record in building successful relationships based on mutual value creation. By establishing commonality and rapport between stakeholders, Demetri creates an atmosphere of trust that enables relationships to flourish.
Since founding Avant Global, over two decades ago, Demetri and his partners have been involved in generating over $ 20 billion in value creation across a range of projects and businesses. He has been the catalyst for successfully originating, co-founding, or seeding over 60 new companies across a variety of industries ranging from medical devices to Artificial Intelligence. Demetri is a founding partner of The Healing Company (OTC:THCC), Axia (a premium white spirits brand) and Owl BioMedical (acquired by Miltenyi Biotec) and a Founding General Partner for Equiam LLC. He is on the advisory boards of bSpot, TGZ Capital, Investment Associates AG and Ripple Labs.
He is a member of the Visionary Founders (The Chopra Foundation), National Hellenic Society, YPO-WPO International, Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle, Tiger 21, L100, the Harvard Business School Alumni Organization, and the California Republican Adv isory Council. He is also serving as the Global Envoy for YPO GDN (Global Diplomacy Network) and co-chaired the 2018 and 2019 Silicon Valley YPO Innovation Summit.
Odisseas Athanasiou
Chief executive officer, Lamda Development
Odisseas Athanasiou has been holding the position of the chief executive officer at LAMDA Development S.A. for more than 11 years. He has long experience in senior executive positions in Greece and abroad.
During his 9-year career in the US, he worked for Ernst & Young and Emerson Electric. He has held the positions of CFO Western Europe in Barilla in Paris, CFO at Diageo Hellas, responsible of the Greek and Turkish Hub and CFO of Titan cement.
He holds a degree in Economics and Political sciences from the University of Athens and an MBA from the University of Texas in Austin. Mr Athanasiou is member of the Board of Directors of SEV, SELPE, Alliance for Greece (founding member) and member of the committee of the TEDX Academy Greece.
Kostas Axarloglou, dean and professor of international business and strategy (Alba Graduate Business School), associate professor of international business (Democritus University of Thrace), Michael Gerrits Term chair assistant professor of economics (Babson College), visiting assistant professor of economics (Fuqua School of Business, Duke University), instructor (University of Michigan).
He holds a BA from Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, an MA from the University of Michigan and a PhD from the University of Michigan.
Dr Axarloglou is doing research and consulting work in the areas of international business (foreign direct investments), strategy (strategic leadership), and pricing. His research has been published in leading management and economics journals such as Management Science, the Journal of Business, the Journal of the European Economic Association, World Economy and Managerial and Decision Economics. He has received several research grants and also participated in numerous international conferences. Recently, he completed a study for the Athens Academy of Science on “The Lack of FDI Flows in Greece”. Dr Axarloglou serves in various company boards and has done extensive training and consulting work in numerous multinational corporations such as Carrefour, Eurobank, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen-Cilag, Novo Nordisk, Philip Morris International, PepsiCo, Shell, Titan, Viohalco and Vodafone.
Dr Axarloglou, a recipient of the Fulbright scholarship, has extensive teaching experience in all levels of business education and has also received several teaching awards.
He is a member of the American Economic Association.
Ezat Azem
General manager, Roche Hellas
Ezat Azem has been the general manager of Roche Hellas since May 2019. Ezat has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry.
His career in Roche began at the Roche Israel affiliate, where he held roles with increasing responsibility and impact, including marketing director and business unit director. In 2015 he transitioned to Roche Romania, where he served as commercial & strategic director, and in 2017 he took over the role of general manager of Roche Slovenia.
Ezat holds academic degrees from the Hebrew University - Hadassa Medical School (Israel), and Recanniti Business School in Tel Aviv University (Israel). He has also attended special education programs at INSEAD Business School (France), and at London Business School (UK).
Shlomo Ben Ami
Former foreign affairs minister, Israel, vice-president, Toledo International Centre for Peace (TICpax)
Shlomo Ben Ami was educated at Tel Aviv University and Oxford University where he received his D.Phil. He headed the Graduate School of History, and is the author of studies in Spanish history and fascism. He also held visiting fellowships at St.Antony’s College in Oxford and The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, in Washington. In 2016, he was the George MacGovern professor of international and public affairs at the University of Columbia, New York.
In 1987-91 he served as Israel’s ambassador in Spain. He later headed the Israeli delegation at the Multilateral Talks on Refugees in the Middle East. In 1999, he became minister of public security, and in 2000 foreign minister. As such he led the peace talks with the Palestinians throughout the last two years of the Clinton administration.
His publications include Scars of War, Wounds of Peace. The Arab-Israeli Tragedy, Oxford University Press 2006.
He served as a member of the international board of The International Crisis Group; and is a special adviser to the United States Middle East Project. He has also served as an adviser to Colombia’s government on the peace process with the FARC guerrilla.
Mr Ben Ami is a regular contributor to Project Syndicate on strategic and global affairs.
Martin Bijsterbosch
Mission chief for Greece, ECB
Martin Bijsterbosch is mission chief for Greece at the European Central Bank and deputy head of division in the ECB’s Directorate-General Economics. Martin joined the ECB in 2001. He worked in various positions in DG-Economics, the ECB Representation in Washington DC and DG-Macroprudential Policy & Financial Stability. He was extensively involved in country monitoring, including in Cyprus, Latvia and Portugal.
Martin has published on the role of credit in economic activity, the economic implications of uncertainty and cross-border capital flows. He worked previously at the Bank of Canada and De Nederlandsche Bank, where he started his career. Martin holds a Master degree in monetary economics and studied at the universities of Groningen and Siena.
Gus M. Bilirakis
Member, House Committee on Energy and Commerce, member, United States House of Representatives (via connection)
Congressman Gus M. Bilirakis is a Republican, representing Florida’s 12th Congressional District. He is currently serving his sixth term in the US House of Representatives.
Gus serves on the energy and commerce committee and is vice-chairman of the Veterans’ affairs committee. Working in a bipartisan manner, his main priorities include controlling government spending, creating jobs for middleclass Americans, finding ways for government to operate smaller and smarter, and lowering taxes.
As the grandson of Greek immigrants, Gus is heavily invested in Hellenic affairs. The region is vital to American interests, and Greece is a strong ally of the U.S. He is the Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Affairs and the founding Co-Chair of the Congressional Hellenic Israel Alliance, a group of Members dedicated to advancing cooperation between the U.S., Greece, Israel, and Cyprus.
Gus strongly opposes the illegal Turkish occupation of Cyprus and has been a strong proponent of the reunification of Cyprus, on behalf of all the Cypriot people. He believes strongly in protecting religious freedoms across the globe, and stopping the persecution of religious minorities, including Coptic Christians in Egypt and Eastern Orthodox Christians in Turkey.
Prior to being elected to Congress, Gus served four terms in the Florida House of Representatives, where he chaired several prominent panels, including the Economic Development, Trade and Banking Committee.
Cameron Brooks
General manager, Europe Public Sector, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Cameron Brooks has been general manager, Europe Public Sector at Amazon Web Services (AWS) since 2017. Based in London, Dr Brooks is responsible for leading the Europe Public Sector team and growing the business with government, education, and non-profit organizations throughout Europe. In his role, he advises public sector clients in the field of digital transformation, based on his extensive experience in the utilization of emerging and disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing and data analytics for government and healthcare applications.
Dr Brooks previously worked at IBM Watson Group (2004-17), where he held several key roles. As public sector director for Europe, he spearheaded the field of artificial intelligence for government across the region. He has also been director of IBM’s government, healthcare and education business for the Middle East & Africa region, global public sector director for government healthcare, leader of advanced water management for smarter cities and programme director for the Blue Gene Supercomputer.
Cameron Brooks holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, an MBA in Finance & Management from the New York University, and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan.
George Burns
President and chief executive officer, Eldorado Gold Corporation (via connection)
George Burns was appointed president and chief executive officer of Eldorado Gold Corporation in April 2017. Prior to joining Eldorado, Mr Burns was executive vice-president and chief operating officer at Goldcorp from 2012 to 2017. He also held the Goldcorp positions of senior vice-president, Mexican Operations and vice-president, Canada and United States respectively. Prior to that he was senior vice-president & chief operating officer of Centerra Gold Inc.
Mr Burns has over 30 years of experience in the mineral sector including executive, operations, development and engineering leadership roles in gold, copper and coal operations. Mr Burns has served in various capacities for Asarco LLC including vice-president of mining as well as numerous capacities for Cyprus Minerals Corporation. He began his career with Anaconda Company in 1978.
Mr Burns holds a bachelor of science degree in Mining Engineering from the Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology. He is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors.
Aristotelis Chantavas
Head of Europe, Enel Green Power & president, SolarPower Europe
Aristotelis Chantavas is currently the head of Europe area in Enel Green Power, responsible for the European countries, except for Italy and Iberia.
Aristotelis is managing the renewable business of Enel in these countries, focusing mainly on wind, solar, hydro and battery storage technologies. Moreover, in March 2020 he was elected as the president of SolarPower Europe. He has a diverse background in the management of different types of renewables projects, varying in both size and type. His broad professional career in renewable energy, both in Europe and North America, includes executive roles in business development, construction and maintenance, M&A and new investments.
Aristotelis graduated in Civil Engineering from Democritus University of Thrace and holds an MSc in Engineering Business Management from University of Warwick, with further specialization in Entrepreneurial Studies at Harvard University and MIT Sloan School of Management.
Alexis Charitsis
MP, shadow minister of development and investments, SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance
Alexis Charitsis was born in Kalamata in 1977.
He is a Greek politician of the SYRIZA party and since 2019 he is a member of the Greek Parliament for Messinia. He served as press officer of SYRIZA. As of September 2020 he is shadow minister for development and investments.
From 2015-19 he served as minister of interior, alternate minister of economy & development, (responsible for public investments, European structural and investment fun ds, as well as Industry and growth strategy), deputy minister of economy, development and tourism and secretary-general for public investments – NSRF/ PA.
He holds a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and a master's degree in Renewable Energy Sources from the University of Manchester. He worked in the private energy sector for more than 10 years, both in Greece and abroad.
Vladimir Chizhov
Permanent representative of Russia to the European Union (via connection)
Vladimir Chizhov was born on December 3rd 1953. He graduated with honours from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO - University) and joined the diplomatic service in 1976.
Embassy in Athens, Greece (1976), 5th European department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1981), Embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus (1985), counsellor, 2nd European department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1992), head of UK/Ireland division, 2nd European department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1992), deputy director, 2nd European department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1993), deputy head, Russian delegation to the OSCE, Vienna, Austria (1995), deputy High Representative for Bosnia Peace Implementation, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (1996), director, 3rd European department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
1997-2000: Russian Special Representative for Cyprus (1997 ), director, European cooperation department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1999), Russian special representative for the Balkans (2000-02), deputy minister of foreign affairs (2002), permanent representative of the Russian Federation to the European Communities, Brussels, Belgium (2005)
Since 2010 he has been permanent representative of the Russian Federation to the European Union, Brussels, Belgium.
Conducted analytical research work on European security, OSCE, Russia-EU and Russia-NATO relations, Mediterranean, Balkans, problems of Cyprus and Northern Ireland, UN peacekeeping operations.
Diplomatic Rank: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (2000)
Decorated with state awards
Languages: English, Greek, French
Marital status: married, two children
Christos S. Christodoulou is the founder and CEO of CSC Christodoulou Ltd and CEO and Board Member of Delphi Alliance. He holds the professional title of Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant (FCCA), and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and he is a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Cyprus (ICPAC), holding the relevant practising certificate.
Christos is currently the president of the VAT committee of the ICPAC for the period 2019-21, (previously served as a member, secretary and president, for the last 20 years). He participates in several meetings at the Ministry of Finance, the House of Representatives and with the Tax Commissioner, for the formulation of tax laws, circulars and tax policies. He journals regularly about tax and other financial and economic subjects and interferes in a constructive way for promoting best practices and policies for the development of the Cyprus economy.
Leonidas Christopoulos
Secretary-general of digital governance and simplification of procedures, Greece
Mr Leonidas Christopoulos is the secretary-general of digital governance and simplification of procedures at the Ministry of Digital Governance. Mr Christopoulos has worked as an advisor to several ministers as well as to the president of the governing party on the field of public administration reform.
He has coordinated significant public administration reform projects in Greece such as the reorganization of the Greek Central Administration (2014), the reduction of administrative burdens in several policy areas (2014), the public financial management agenda (2012-14) and the new law on the Executive State (2019).
Mr Christopoulos is a civil servant at the Ministry of Finance and a graduate of the National School of Public Administration.
He holds a degree on Political Science and International Relations from Panteion University and an MA in International Political Economy from Warwick University. He speaks English & German.
Declan Costello
Deputy director-general, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission
Declan Costello was born in Galway, Ireland in 1967.
He has a degree in Economics from Trinity College Dublin and a Masters’ degree from the College of Europe in Bruges.
He joined the European Commission in 1991 and has worked since then in the Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN) working on issues such as the launch of the euro, the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) and subsequently European Semester 2020 strategy.
From 2012 to 2014, he was acting director for resources and communication in DG ECFIN.
From May 2014, he has been the European Commission’s mission chief for Greece. During this period, he led the negotiations with the Greek authorities on the design and monitoring of policy conditionality underpinning the EFSF and subsequently ESM stability programme for Greece. He was also active in the discussions that led to measures being agreed by the Eurogroup in 2016 and 2018 to ensure the sustainability of Greek public debt.
In August 2019, Mr Costello was nominated deputy director-general in DG ECFIN.
Helena Dalli
Commissioner for equality, European Commission (recorded message)
Dominique de Villepin
Former prime minister, France
Mr De Villepin was prime minister of France from 2005 to 2007. His political career began in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1980, in the department of African Affairs and the policy planning staff. Since then, he has held international positions in several embassies as Washington or New Delhi.
From 1995 to 2002 he was chief of staff to the president of the Republic, before becoming minister of foreign affairs from 2002 to 2004 and minister of the interior, internal security and local rights from 2004 to 2005. Prime minister from 2005 to 2007, lawyer from 2008 to 2015.
Since 2015, president of the consulting company Villepin International. Since 2008, he has been the president of Villepin International, a consulting firm to accompany the strategies for transnational investments and activities particularly in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Born in Morocco in 1953, Mr De Villepin holds a B.A. in Law, and graduated from the Paris Institute of Political Sciences and the prestigious Ecole Nationale d’Administration.
He is the author of many books, historical and political essays, as well as essays on literature and poetry.
Nikos Dendias
Minister of foreign affairs, Greece
Nikos Dendias was born in Corfu.
He is a graduate of the Athens College and of the Athens University Law School (with honors). He holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of London, specializing in Maritime and Insurance Law (University College - UCL) and Criminology (London School of Economics - LSE).
He is a Supreme Court lawyer.
He has been politically active with Nea Dimokratia (New Democracy) since 1978. He was a member of DAP/NDFK, of ONNED Student Secretariat and of the editorial board of the ONNED Journal "Democratic Lead" from 1979 to 1981.
From March 2004-2015 he was MP for Corfu with Nea Dimokratia.
In January 2015 he was elected as MP for Athens 2nd District, first in votes among his fellow candidates on N.D. ballot.
He has served as minister of National Defense from November 2014 until January 2015, as minister of Development and Competitiveness from June 2014 until November 2014, as minister of Public Order and Citizen Protection from June 2012 until June 2014.
From January 2009 to the national elections of October 4, 2009, he was minister of Justice. In December 2010 he was appointed parliamentary spokesperson of Nea Dimokratia.
He has served on numerous Parliamentary Committees.
Has been elected as chairman of the Migration Committee of the Council of Europe in 2013 and vice president in 2012, being a member of the Committee since 2004.
Chairman of the Corfu branch of the Greek Anti-Cancer Society in 2008-2009.
He is married to Dafni Lala and has three children.
Anna Diamantopoulou
President, "DIKTIO" – Network for Reform in Greece and Europe, former European commissioner and former minister of development, Greece
Anna Diamantopoulou is a Greek politician and public figure who has led a distinguished career in public service in Greece and in Europe.
Formerly Greece’s candidate for the post of OECD’s secretary-general, Ms Diamantopoulou served as the European commissioner for employment, social affairs and equal opportunities, and has held several significant portfolios as a minister in the Greek government as well. She was minister of development, competitiveness and shipping, and, prior to that, minister of education, research and technology, and lifelong learning.
She is currently the president of DIKTIO – Network for Reform in Greece and Europe, a leading independent, non-partisan, Athens-based think tank, which she founded in 2013.
Ms Diamantopoulou is actively involved in international think tanks and not-for-profit organisations. She is a member of the board of trustees of the Brussels-based think tank friends of Europe, a council member of the European Council on foreign relations (ECFR), and a member of the scientific council of the foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS). She sits on the advisory board of the Delphi Economic forum and of the Bussola Institute, a Brussels-based platform for independent research and dialogue between Gulf Countries and Europe.
Anna also sits on corporate boards, including the board of directors of Coca Cola HBC, an FTSE 100 company.
Anna was Fisher Family Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, Distinguished Scholar at Singapore’s Lee Kuan School of Public Policy as well as Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow at the Robert Bosch Stiftung. She has received multiple awards and decorations, such as the French Legion of Honour. She holds MA degrees in Civil Engineering and Regional Development from the universities of Athens and Thessaloniki.
Stefanos Dianellos
Vice-president & head of corporate affairs, British American Tobacco Hellas
Stefanos Dianellos has the responsibility of corporate affairs for British American Tobacco for Greece, Cyprus, Malta and Israel.
With an academic and professional background in politics, communication and mass media, he has undertaken senior roles of responsibility in Greece and abroad in the area of corporate affairs and communication for multinational and Greek companies and, also, mass media.
He has led the strategy and management of important projects in all aspects of corporate affairs.
Tarek El-Molla
Minister of petroleum and mineral resources, Egypt
H.E. Tarek El Molla was appointed as the Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources on 19th September 2015.
H.E. Minister El Molla has over 30 years of experience in the oil & gas industry. He started his career at Chevron Egypt back in 1987, where he held various positions in Engineering, Operations, Planning, Sales and Marketing departments. During the period from 2002 till 2008, he got several Chevron assignments and managed projects in Dubai, Kenya and Singapore. In 2008 he became managing director–marketing of Chevron Egypt. He then became regional manager in charge of South & Central Africa’s commercial & industrial business in 2010.
He returned to Egypt in 2011, where he joined the Egyptian General Petroleum Cooperation (EGPC) and progressed further till August 2013, when he was appointed as EGPC CEO.
H.E. Minister El Molla over his career was celebrated internationally and awarded various times for his achievements. Most importantly, the French president awarded him the “Ordre National de la Legion D’Honneur” at the rank of Knight in 2017. Also, in 2020 the president of the Hellenic Republic awarded him the “Grand Commander of the Order of Phoenix”.
H.E. Minister El Molla holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cairo University.
Paolo Fioretti is the deputy head of financial sector and market analysis at the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). Within the chief economist's department, he is responsible for financial sector analysis and monitoring of the euro area banking sector under the ESM’s early warning system for the implementation of the banks’ direct recapitalisation instrument. After having held the role of ESM country team coordinator for Ireland, Mr Fioretti is currently performing a similar role for Cyprus.
Francis Fukuyama is Olivier Nomellini senior fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), Mosbacher Director of FSI's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL), and director of Stanford's Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy. He is also professor (by courtesy) of Political Science.
Dr Fukuyama has written widely on issues in development and international politics. His 1992 book, The End of History and the Last Man, has appeared in over twenty foreign editions. His most recent book, Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment, was published in Sept. 2018.
Francis Fukuyama received his B.A. from Cornell University in classics, and his Ph.D. from Harvard in Political Science. He was a member of the Political Science Department of the RAND Corporation, and of the Policy Planning Staff of the US Department of State. From 1996-2000 he was Omer L. and Nancy Hirst professor of public policy at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University, and from 2001-10 he was Bernard L. Schwartz professor of international political economy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. He served as a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics from 2001-04.
Dr Fukuyama holds honorary doctorates from Connecticut College, Doane College, Doshisha University (Japan), Kansai University (Japan), and Aarhus University (Denmark), and the Pardee Rand Graduate School. He is a non-resident fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and at the Center for Global Development. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the Pardee Rand Graduate School and the Volcker Alliance. He is a member of the American Political Science Association and the Council on Foreign Relations. He is married to Laura Holmgren and has three children.
Maria Rita Galli is the CEO of DESFA. Previously, she held the position of the executive vice-president Business Development & Asset Management at Snam S.p.A, a leading global energy infrastructure company and was the chairman of the SENFLUGA Energy Holdings S.A., a consortium controlling 66% of DESFA’s share capital.
Ms Galli started her career at Eni in 1997, as a graduate in nuclear engineering from the Milan Polytechnic University. At Eni, she went through various roles within the International Business Development Department, joined relevant international projects and was involved in M&A activities. As a member of Eni’s Board of Directors, she also oversaw the operations of some of the Group’s companies abroad (Galp, Distrigas, eni Gas&Power Trading BV, eni Gas&Power France, GVS GmbH, etc.)
Since 2006, she has been in charge of the International Business Development unit and, from January 2010, she has been in charge of the International Business Development and Assets Management department.
In October 2016, she joined Snam as the head of Business Development and International Asset Management.
Paolo Gallo
Chief executive officer and general manager, Italgas, Italy
Paolo Gallo has been chief executive officer and general manager at Italgas since August 4th 2016. He received his degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin. He subsequently earned an MBA from Turin University.
From 2014 to 2016 he was the chief executive officer of Grandi Stazioni S.p.A, of which he oversaw the privatization. Previously (from 2011 to 2014) he worked at Acea S.p.A., firstly as chief operating officer and then as chief executive officer. From 2002 to 2011 he was in the Edison Group, initially as head of strategy and innovation, then as chief operating officer and chief executive officer of Edipower.
He started his career in Fiat Avio S.p.A. in 1988, holding several roles and responsibilities over 13 years. In 1997 he began working in the energy field, developing new initiatives in Italy, India and Brazil and subsequently he recollected all Fiat Group’s electricity generation activities in Fiat Energia, of which he was chief executive officer until 2002.
Between 1992 and 1993 he was dean of the MBA programme at the School of Business Administration of the University of Turin, where he lectured “Industrial Investments Economical-Financial evaluations” until 2002. He is also co-author of relevant publications in the sector. Since 2018 he has been professor of Re-engineering Operational Processes (Master Digital Ecosystem) and Energy Management (Master Energy Industry) courses at the Luiss Business School.
Teodora Georgieva
Executive officer, ICGB
John Georgoulas
Non-executive director, Ecommbx
John Georgoulas is a Certified Board Director in Banking from INSEAD and a Certified Professional Banker from the Chartered Banker Institute. He has founded several companies in the fields of corporate communications and technology and he is specialized in corporate governance, regulation in the financial services and new technologies. He has served on the board of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission appointed by the Council of Ministers.
Now, he is a Non-Executive Director of ECOMMBX, an electronic money institution regulated by the Central Bank of Cyprus, a Non-Executive Director of TFI Markets, regulated by both the Central Bank of Cyprus and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission and a Non-Executive Director of FXCM, an investment firm regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission and a non-executive director at Swissquote Capital Markets ltd that belongs to Swissquote, a listed financial services firm in the Swiss stock exchange. He is the President of the Cyprus Association of Electronic Money & Payment Institutions, the President of the Cyprus – Serbian Business Association and a member of the board of the American Chamber of Commerce in Cyprus. He has served on several boards in the private sector and at NGOs and he is an alumnus of IVLP from the Department of State of USA.
He has an MBA, a BSc in Business Information Systems and a Diploma of Higher Education in Computer Sciences.
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović
Former president, Croatia
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović is the 4th and 1st female President of Croatia (2015-2020) with broad national and international experience in politics, diplomacy and security studies. She was elected a Member of the Croatian Parliament (2003), and served as Croatia’s first female Minister of Foreign Affairs (2003-2008) and Ambassador to the United States, Mexico, Panama and OAS (2008-2011), as well as the first female Assistant Secretary General and member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Senior Leadership (2011-2014).
She was elected an independent member of the International Olympic Committee in 2020, and has been appointed Chair of the Future Hosts Commission for the Games of the Olympiad. Currently she is a Special Advisor to the Dean of the Zagreb School of Economics and Management, and serves on the boards of a number of non-profit institutions, such as Friends of Europe, the US Atlantic Council, GLOBSEC, Halifax International Security Forum, the Concordia Leadership Council. She is a Member of the High-Level Advisory Council for the High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), the Global Ambassador for Immunization for Women Political Leaders (WPL), and chair emerita of the Council of Women World Leaders.
Parallel to her diplomatic and political careers, she has pursued an academic career in government, international relations and security studies at the Vienna Diplomatic Academy (1994-1995), the George Washington University (2002-2003), Harvard University (2009), the Johns Hopkins University (2011), and the University of Zagreb.
David Harris
Senior strategic adviser, The Henry Jackson Society, London, fmr chief executive officer, American Jewish Committee (via connection)
David Harris, currently senior strategic adviser at the London-based Henry Jackson Society, a transatlantic policy think tank, led American Jewish Committee (AJC), described by the New York Times as the “dean of American Jewish organizations,” from 1990 to 2022. He was referred to by the late Israeli president Shimon Peres as the “foreign minister of the Jewish people”.
Harris has been honored nesrly 25 times by foreign governments, including Greece and Cyprus, for his international work, making him the most decorated American Jewish organizational leader in U.S. history. He is also the recipient of four honorary doctorates, including from Brandeis University and University of Piraeus. He has written hundreds of articles in leading media outlets. Educated at the University of Pennsylvania and London School of Economics, he was a visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins University and Oxford University.
David Harris had led American Jewish Committee (AJC), described by the New York Times as the “dean of American Jewish organizations,” since 1990. He was referred to by the late Israeli president Shimon Peres as the “foreign minister of the Jewish people”.
Harris has been honored more than 20 times by foreign governments for his international work, making him the most decorated American Jewish organizational leader in U.S. history. He has written hundreds of articles in leading media outlets. Educated at the University of Pennsylvania and London School of Economics, he has been a visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins University and Oxford University.
Sudhir Jha
Head of Brighterion, senior vice-president, Mastercard (via connection)
Sudhir Jha is Mastercard SVP and head of Brighterion.
Previously, he was SVP at Infosys Limited, where he led their AI Platform and Solutions business, managing product, engineering and services functions. Sudhir spent more than nine years at Google as product head of policy enforcement for Google’s Personalized Ads products. He also led financial fraud management across all Google products, establishing industry benchmarks for loss prevention while minimizing good customer impact.
Sudhir holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from IIT Kanpur, a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Rochester and an MBA from Santa Clara University.
Christian Kälin
Chairman, Henley & Partners
Dr. Christian H. Kälin, TEP, IMCM is considered one of the world’s foremost experts in investment migration and citizenship-by-investment, a field he pioneered. Holding master’s and PhD degrees in law from the University of Zurich, he is a sought-after speaker and advises governments and international organizations. He is the author, co-author, or editor of many publications, including standard works such as the Global Residence and Citizenship Handbook, and the Switzerland Business & Investment Handbook. His academic background and personal interests have motivated him to become increasingly involved with the global issue of forced displacement and, in particular, with the global refugee crisis. Since 2014, and through a partnership with the UNHCR, Dr. Kälin has made a significant contribution to the refugee cause — and in 2017 he established the Andan Foundation in order to amplify the impact of his personal commitment to support refugees.
George Katrougkalos
Former minister of foreign affairs, Greece
He has lectured as visiting professor or invited speaker, among others, at the Universities of Oxford, NYU, Columbia, Humboldt, London School of Economics, Roskilde, Dublin College University, Tilburg, UNAM, New Delhi Law School. He has worked as international expert on human rights and institutional building in Albania, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Syria and North Macedonia and as legal advisor to the Greek Mission at the United Nations on Human Rights issues. He is member of the executive committee of the International Association of Constitutional Law and the Association of Greek Constitutionalists, former member of the board of KETHEA (Therapy Center for Dependent Individuals) and UNICEF Greece. He has published extensively in Greek, American, European and Asian legal reviews.
Stavros Konstantas
CEO, Ethniki Insurance Company
Stavros Konstantas has been the CEO of “Ethniki” Insurance Company since 2018 and acting CEO since 2016. He entered the company in 2011 and he was holding the position of CFO and COO, until February 2016.
During the period 1991-98, he worked in ING Life of Greece, where he served in several responsible positions in the Actuarial Department. In 1999, he was appointed chief actuary and operations manager and from 2002 to 2008 he held the position of CFO. In 2009, he was appointed chief bancassurance officer, responsible for the Bancassurance Distribution agreement with Piraeus bank. He was also deputy CEO in ING Life and ING Non Life and member of the board of directors of ING Brokerage and ING Piraeus JV.
Today, he is also chairman of the board of directors of Ethniki Insurance (Cyprus) Ltd and Garanta Asigurari S.A. in Romania and vice-chairman of the board of directors of the Association of Insurance Companies and of Europe Insurance Company.
He holds a bachelor and a postgraduate degree in Mathematics from the University of Athens and he has been a certified actuary since 1994.
Vassilis Kontozamanis
Advisor to the prime minister for health
Markos Kounalakis, Ph.D. is an author, journalist, and international relations scholar.
Dr Kounalakis is both a visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and a Central European University senior fellow at the Center for Media, Data and Society. His globally syndicated foreign affairs column appeared weekly in the Miami Herald and McClatchy. He recently served as president Barack Obama’s appointee to the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Dr Kounalakis lives in San Francisco with his wife, California’s Lt. Governor, Ambassador Eleni Kounalakis.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Dr Kounalakis worked as a foreign correspondent, covering wars and revolutions for Newsweek and as the NBC-Mutual News Moscow correspondent. He reported on the fall of the Berlin Wall and lived in the Soviet Union during its collapse. His assignments included the overthrow of communism in East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. He covered the Soviet war in Afghanistan and the outbreak of ethnic strife and war in Yugoslavia. He was based in Rome, Vienna and ran Newsweek’s Prague bureau.
Dr Kounalakis became president and publisher of the Washington Monthly magazine and chairman of the Internews Network. He is the author of the recently published “Freedom isn’t Free: The Price of World Order” (Anthem Press, 2022)
Albin Kurti
Prime minister, Kosovo
Albin Kurti is the the president of the biggest political party in the country, Lëvizja VETËVENDOSJE! (LVV), as well as the fourth and now the sixth Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosova since the country’s declaration of independence. He was born on March 24th, 1975 in Prishtina.
Kurti joined the Presidency of the Students Independent Union of the University of Prishtina (SIUUP) in August 1997, which organized peaceful, non-violent protests for the release of the university buildings and premises which were occupied by the authorities of the Serbian regime. When war began in Kosova, in August 1998, Kurti began working as the Secretary of the Office of the General Political Representative of the Kosova Liberation Army (KLA), Adem Demaçi. When the NATO bombing of Serbia and Kosova commenced in March 1999, Kurti remained in Prishtina, and was arrested by the Serbian police on April 27th, 1999, and then imprisoned. When Serbian forces withdrew from Kosova on June 10th, Kurti and many other Albanian political prisoners were transferred to Serbian prisons. Due to international pressure, Kurti was released on December 7th, 2001. On April 23rd, 2003, Kurti graduated in Computer Science and Telecommunications from the University of Prishtina.
In June of 2005, Kurti with other activists of the Kosova Action Network, advanced their organization into Lëvizja VETËVENDOSJE!, which was later registered as a political party. He was the President of LVV until March 2015, and was re-elected as President of the party in January 2018. Between 2005-2017, he spent almost one a half years under house arrest and in prison, charged by the authorities of UNMIK, EULEX and the Republic of Kosova.
Kurti has served three terms in office as a member of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosova representing LVV. He has also served as the chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs at the Assembly. In the last three, consecutive national elections held in Kosova, in 2017, 2019 and 2021, Kurti has been the party’s candidate for prime minister. In the elections of 2017 and 2019, he and the party won the highest number of votes. Whereas, in the elections held on February 14th, 2021, LVV’s list won a total of 50.28% of the popular vote, which is the best result any party has achieved since the end of the war in Kosova.
Albin Kurti has published over 550 articles, and has been invited to present at different renowned universities inside and outside the country. He is fluent in Albanian, English, and Serbian.
He is married to Rita Augestad Knudsen, and they have one daughter, Lea.
Ms Kyriakides, in her capacity as the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety since December 2019, is leading the Commission’s work on various portfolios including the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, aiming to improve cancer prevention and care while also she is in charge of developing a new Pharmaceutical Strategy to ensure that Europe can meet its needs relating to affordable medicines.
During the COVID-19 crisis, the Commissioner took on the responsibilities of coordinating the EU’s health response and of supporting Member States to tackle the outbreak.
Ms. Kyriakides has previously worked as a clinical psychologist for 28 consecutive years, in the Mental Health Services of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Cyprus in the area of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, from 1979-2006.
Ms. Kyriakides was elected to the Cyprus Parliament in 2006 and was then re-elected in 2011 and 2016 for the Democratic Rally Party, for which she served duties as Vice-President. In 2012, Ms. Kyriakides was appointed Head of the Cyprus Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and in 2017 she was elected as President of PACE, thus becoming the 30th President of the Assembly.
Notably, she was also the founder of the First Breast Cancer advocacy organization in Cyprus, namely “Europa Donna – Cyprus” and served as the President from 2000-2015. She was also President of the European Breast Cancer Coalition Europa Donna.
Georgios Lakkotrypis was born on May 30th, 1970 in Nicosia. He earned his BSc in Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Keele, UK (1988-91) and his MBA at the University of Colorado, USA, on a Fulbright scholarship (1993-95).
Between 1991 and 1993, he worked for J&P Overseas as IT systems administrator at the company’s branch in Benghazi, Libya. In 1996, after completing his MBA, he joined IBM Cyprus where for the next 6 years he worked in sales.
In 2002 he was the first employee hired by Microsoft in Cyprus, entrusted with developing the company’s operations in the country. In 2008 he was appointed managing director for Microsoft Cyprus and Malta, while in November 2011 he was promoted to public sector director for Microsoft Central & Eastern Europe, with the mandate of developing the company’s business in 24 countries.
During this period, he also served as non-executive director on the boards of the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (2007-11) and of the Natural Gas Public Company (2009-13).
In March, 2013, Mr Lakkotrypis was appointed by the newly elected president Nicos Anastassiades as minister of energy, commerce, industry and tourism of the Republic of Cyprus, a position he held following the president’s re-election in March 2018. He concluded his term in office in July 2020.
Currently, through his private firm, Mr Lakkotrypis is providing advisory services in areas such as digital transformation and energy transition. He also sits on the board of various organizations as non-executive director.
Julia Lendvai
Mission chief for Greece, European Commission
Celeste Cecilia Lo Turco
Director, NEOM
Dr Celeste Lo Turco is a sovereign wealth funds and sustainability expert. Dr Celeste Lo Turco worked for the SWFs strategic committee of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the SWFs Law Centre. She was the adviser for the Italian Municipalities National Association on the development of the national economy through the relationship with SWFs.
Former United Nations analyst with a specialization in Security and Middle-East Political Affairs, she worked within the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI). The Middle East has been her house for more than nine years. Previously based in the United Arab Emirates as vice-president strategy for future holding, a Lebanese family office based in Dubai, she now lives in Saudi Arabia where she works as a director at NEOM.
A Georgetown University Fulbright visiting researcher, she holds a PhD in Political Theory and a master’s degree in International Relations, Markets and Institutions of the Global System. She is an active writer about SWFs, sustainability, and global economics.
Tassos Manos
CEO, HEDNO
Tassos Manos has been HEDNO΄s CEO since October 2019.
In the past:
Lafarge Holcim Europe-Head of Procurement Balkans.
Heracles GCCo - general manager responsible for logistics, exports, distribution terminals, procurement and group IS/IT.
ANEH Shipping Subsidiary-managing director.
PPC Renewables -project manager for mergers & acquisitions and business development
BCG (The Boston Consulting Group) - consultant.
PQH S.A.- COO
Co-founder - startups in medical device industry
Education
INSEAD – MBA.
Technical University of Crete - MSc. in Engineering Management
National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) - BA/MA in Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering
Manousos Manousakis
Chairman & CEO, Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO)
Manos Manousakis has been the chairman of the board of directors and the chief executive officer of Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO or ADMIE) since June 2017. In 2019, he was elected member of the board of directors of the European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-E).
Previously, Mr Manousakis was the CEO of OTE Rural North and South, having held various positions of responsibility in the Greek Telecommunications Company, where he played an instrumental role in the design of cutting-edge telecommunication services. He was appointed Secretary General of the Hellenic Ministry of Economy (2015), as well as a Director at Black Sea Trade and Development Bank for the same period.
Mr Manousakis holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens. He has also academic experience having been a lecturer at the University of Piraeus. His career combines business development leadership and complex project management with country strategic planning.
Konstantinos Mavros
CEO, PPC Renewables
Konstantinos Mavros has significant and diversified experience in the broader energy sector and the fields of corporate finance and technology. He has worked in the past in the renewable energy sector, and has been leading companies in the technological field. He has also co-founded a Venture Capital fund supported by the European Investment Fund. He is an active member and holds key positions in several international professional and academic associations and has been a visiting lecturer at the Athens University International MBA program.
Mr Mavros holds a Masters’ degree in Finance from Imperial College London and has completed high level executive education programs at Harvard Business School.
Professor Dr Antonis Metaxas is the founder and managing partner of Metaxas & Associates Law Firm, a firm ranked as top-tier in its core specializations, i.e. Energy, EU and Competition Law by all reputable international legal directories (e.g. "Legal 500" and Chambers & Partners").
Prof. Metaxas is the chairman of the Hellenic Energy Regulation Institute (HERI-www.energy-regulation.eu) and teaches EU Law at the University of Athens. He also acts as a visiting professor in various distinguished universities in Greece and abroad. Moreover, he is acknowledged as one of the most prominent professionals and academics in his field in Europe, which is attested by the fact that he has consistently been recognized as a leading legal advisor and litigator by many legal directories. Prof. Metaxas acts as a senior legal advisor to a number of governmental bodies, regulatory authorities and as well as major private and institutional clients.
Costas Michaelides
Chairman of the board, National Bank of Greece
Mr Costas Michaelides was appointed chair of the board of directors of National Bank of Greece in December 2017. Mr Michaelides has over 30 years experience in international banking, from prominent managerial positions in international credit and financial organisations.
During the period 2013-15 he served as global head of strategic change at UBS A.G. From 2005 to 2013 he was EMEA chief operating officer at Credit Suisse A.G. Prior to that, he served as EMEA chief operating officer at Credit Suisse First Boston (2000-05), chief operating officer at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette International (1999-00) and chief financial officer (1988-94) and chief operating officer (1994-99) at EMEA for Merrill Lynch. He has also been treasurer at Salomon Brothers International. (1986-88) and has served in various senior positions at ExxonMobil.
Mr Michaelides holds an MBA in Finance from Columbia Business School, a D octorate in Economics and International Affairs from the University of Denver, and a BA in Economics and Political Science from Ripon College. He was a Fulbright Scholar and a Bronfman Scholar.
Constantine Michalos
President, Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Constantine Michalos, born in 1960, studied Finance and Political Science at the University of Essex in United Kingdom, and pursued postgraduate studies on financial applications at the London School of Economics & Political Science (MSC).
He is currently president of the Union of Hellenic Chambers of Commerce and of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI). Since 1988 he has been the chairman and chief executive officer of SWAN SA, an industrial exporting company based in Krioneri, Attica, specializing in the production of natural latex products. Since 2010, he has been CEO of “M SOLUTIONS” – FOODBALLER, a food trading business offering complete food service products to Super Markets and Hotels throughout Greece.
From 1993 to 2005 he was an elected member of the board of ACCI. From 1998 to 2002 he was Treasurer of the ACCI. In 2002 he was elected on the Board of Directors of the Arab-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce and Development, in 2004 he was appointed as the Chamber’s vice-chairman, while in 2003 he was elected president of the Association of North Attica Region Enterprises. In the period 2004-05 he served as senior adviser at the Ministry of Development. From 2005 to 2006 he was the secretary-general of the Ministry of Economy & Finance. He has also been member of the Boards of Directors of the Greek Telecommunications Organization and the Greek Public Power Corporation.
In 2012 he was elected member of the Boards of Directors of ASTIR PALACE SA and ATHENS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT SA. In October 2013, he was elected as deputy - president of EUROCHAMBERS (The European Chamber of Commerce). In November 2013, he was elected as president of the Union of Balkans Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Constantine Michalos is married with four children, and speaks English and French.
Pavlos Mylonas
CEO, National Bank of Greece
Averof Neofytou
President, The Democratic Rally Party (DISY), Cyprus
Nikos Panagiotopoulos
Minister of national defence, Greece
Born in 1965 in Kavala. Graduated with Honors from Athens College in 1984. Studied economics and international relations at the University of Pennsylvania (1984-88) and law at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (1988- 92). Attended courses at the Université de Technologie de Compiègne in France, working on his dissertation on the economics of the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU (summer 1988).
Mandatory military service in the Hellenic Air Force (1990-92). Employed in the private sector as international marketing director at “Marmara Kavalas SA” (marble quarrying, manufacturing and exporting company in Kavala, Northern Greece) (1992-99). Practiced criminal law in Kavala (1999-2007). Elected as a member of the Hellenic Parliament with “N.D.” in the district of Kavala at 2007, 2009, May 2012, June 2012, January 2015, September 2015 and July 2019. Member of the parliamentary committees of commerce (2007-09), Greek Diaspora (2007-12), defense and foreign affairs (2009-12 and 2013-15), social affairs (2015-17), justice, public order and public administration (2017-present). Deputy minister of labour, social security and social solidarity (2012-13). Appointed “N.D.” party coordinator/shadow minister for defense (2012), social affairs (2015-16) and justice (2016-present). Appointed “N.D.” member of the special parliamentary committees investigating the affair of the Hellenic Navy submarines purchase (2011) and the “Novartis” pharmaceuticals investigation of the involvement of government officials (2018). Appointed “N.D.” member of the parliamentary committee for the revision of the constitution (Jan-Apr 2018).
Speaks fluently English and French, working knowledge of Italian and Spanish. Married to Anastasia Angelidou. An avid sportsman, represented Greece with the Junior National Water Polo Team in 1981-1982. Enjoys reading, basketball, skiing and swimming in his spare time.
John Papageorgiou
Journalist, EU affairs reporter, Athens Municipal Radio, founder & head, Athens Digest
John Papageorgiou is an EU affairs reporter with over 20 years of experience in the media. Since 2012, John has been covering stories related to the Greek financial crisis. He has been hosting his own radio show for several radio stations in Greece since 1992. He currently hosts a morning show for the municipal radio of Athens.
John is the founder and head of “Athens Digest”, a newsletter written exclusively in English, which provides a comprehensive coverage of the latest news from Greece; in parallel, a contributor at Oxford Analytica. He is also a member of the advisory board of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP).
Expert in corporate communication and public affairs, he has delivered such services as well as crisis management for high-level multinational and Greek companies and agencies.
John has earned a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from the University of Athens. He also holds a private college diploma in journalism and radio production.
Nikos Papathanasis
Alternate minister of development & investments, Greece
Nikos Papathanasis is a Mechanical Engineer and member of the Technical Chamber of Greece. He received his B.A.Sc. from the University of Toronto and he continued his education by receiving two post-graduate degrees, Master in Management and Aerospace Engineering.
He commenced work in 1984 at the De Havilland Aircraft Company (now Bombardier Aerospace) in Toronto. He served as a member of the board of the Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI) and as a member of the board and executive vice president of the Olympic Aviation. He worked for twenty four years as a senior and C level executive at private and public companies in Greece and abroad.
His work experience includes the management of State interest companies as in public transportation companies, namely, CEO of ISAP S.A. (Urban Rail) and President and CEO of Urban Rail Transport S.A. From 2008 to 2010 he was President - elect of the National section of the European Center of Employers and Enterprises (CEEP).
Throughout his thirty five years work experience, he has demonstrated his ability in developing business action reform plans, maturing investments, restructuring and streamlining of companies that led to a significant improvement of their balance sheets.
In July 2019 he was appointed by Prime Minister, K. Mitsotakis, as Deputy Minister of Development and Investments responsible for Industry, Commerce and Consumer Protection. In August 2020 he was appointed as Alternate Minister of Development and Investments responsible for Private Investments and PPPs.
Vassilis Papoulias
Chief operating officer, Office Line
Charalambos Petrides
Minister of defence, Cyprus
Charalambos Petrides was born in Nicosia on the 19th of October 1974. On the 29th of June 2020 he was appointed as minister of defence by the president of the Republic of Cyprus. He is a certified property valuer and real - estate consultant from the Estate Agents Registration Board, a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). He has served as the CEO of the Company Landtourist Group.
He has served as the mayor of the Municipality of Aglantzia, Nicosia from 2016 to 2020, where he supervised the implementation of major road networks, economic consolidation and the reform of the Municipality’s social services. From 2013 to 2016 he served as the president of the Cyprus Land Development Corporation. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Property Valuers Association from 2004 to 2013 and was elected as chairman of the Association from 2009 to 2013. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) from 2012 to 2014, as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI Cyprus) from 2012 to 2014 and as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Organization Urban Land Institute in Cyprus from 2010 to 2011.
In 1998 he graduated from the Oxford Brookes University in the UK with a First Class Honours Degree (BSc Hons) in Estate Management. He completed his studies with a Masters in Land Economics and Finance (MPhil) at the Wolfson College of Cambridge University with a scholarship.
He undertook his military service from 1993 to 1995 in the Air Force.
He is married to Xanthi Tzovani Petrides and has two children.
Kyriakos Pierrakakis
Minister, Ministry of Digital Governance, Greece
Kyriakos Pierrakakis is the minister of digital governance in the cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis. He is a Greek computer and political scientist and politician.
In 2007 he earned a master in public policy from John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and in 2009 he earned a Master of Science in Technology and Policy from MIT. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Athens University of Economics and Business.
He served as director of research at diaNEOsis, an independent non-profit think tank. He produced an array of research papers with a strong focus on economic growth and understanding the prevailing perceptions and beliefs among Greeks.
He has also worked on technology policy for various research institutes in Greece and abroad and headed Youth Foundation as president.
Natasa Pilides
Minister of energy, commerce and industry, Cyprus
Natasa Pilides was appointed minister of energy, commerce and industry on July 10th 2020.
She had previously served, since March 1st 2018, as the first shipping deputy minister of the Republic of Cyprus, being in charge of the strategic development and promotion of Cyprus as a world class, integrated, maritime cluster.
From April 2016 until her appointment as shipping deputy minister, Ms Pilides served as director-general of the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA), having the responsibility for the design and implementation of CIPA’s strategy in investment promotion, investor support and facilitation of reform, in close collaboration with the Cyprus Government.
Her work experience spans more than fifteen years in the private sector and includes serving as director and regional chief operating officer at Baker Tilly in South East Europe, heading the departments of Finance, Marketing, HR, Administration, Operations and IT, for Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova.
She also worked, for 9 years, at PwC in Cyprus, Milan and London, in the areas of audit and tax consulting, providing services to multinational companies active in the fields of banking and finance, shipping, insurance, energy, construction and FMCG.
Ms Pilides has wide experience in delivering professional training and courses for ICAEW, ACCA and CIMA exams, in the areas of audit, tax, corporate law, ethics, financial accounting and reporting, at BPP London, one of the leading professional studies organisations worldwide.
She graduated from Oxford University with a first-class honours degree, with distinction, in Modern Languages and Literature (French and Italian). She is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus (ICPAC).
Aikaterini Polymerou – Kamilaki
Emer. researcher, former director of the Hellenic Folklore Research Centre of the Academy of Athens
Doctor of the Faculty of Philosophy of the National Kapodistrian University of Athens Postgraduate Studies in Vienna, Munich.
Emerita Researcher, Former Director of the Research Center of Greek Folklore of the Academy of Athens, which organized and modernized, through the digitization of its Collections, the creation of new facilities, the enrichment of its editions, the organization of international conferences, exhibitions and the establishment of thematic museums. He made many scientific announcements at conferences, lectures, published books and hundreds of articles in magazines and newspapers, supervised large-scale research projects. Highlighted the importance of popular culture as a living element of culture and an instrument for modern local development.
She is a member: of the National Commission on Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture, the National Committee of Greece 2021. President Committee on Handicrafts of the Ministry of Development.
Reince currently serves as the president of Michael Best & Friedrich LLP. Prior to joining Michael Best, Reince was named White House chief of staff shortly after the 2016 Presidential campaign.
Prior to managing the White House staff, Reince served as the longest-serving chairman of the Republican National Committee in modern history. He oversaw a dramatic turnaround of the RNC, rescuing its finances, repairing its operations, and rebuilding its ground game while raising over one billion dollars. By welcoming new voters and harnessing the power of new technologies, Reince built the infrastructure needed for landslide GOP victories, and he left the RNC as the winningest chairmen of either political party in American history. He was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in both 2016 and 2017.
Before serving as RNC chairman, Reince was one of the most successful chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin creating the framework for one of the most historic election cycles Wisconsin has ever experienced. During his tenure, the state’s Republicans elected Ron Johnson to the U.S. Senate, elected Scott Walker as governor, gained two additional U.S. House seats, and took back both the State Assembly and State Senate, while also defeating the democratic leaders of both of those chambers.
Reince previously served as a visiting fellow at Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School and is currently an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve.
Geoffrey R. Pyatt, a career member of the Foreign Service, class of career minister, was sworn in as the US ambassador to the Hellenic Republic in September 2016.
He served as US ambassador to Ukraine from 2013-16, receiving the State Department’s Robert Frasure Memorial Award in recognition of his commitment to peace and alleviation of human suffering in eastern Ukraine.
Previously, ambassador Pyatt was principal deputy assistant secretary of state in the bureau of south and central Asian affairs from 2010-13. He was deputy chief of mission at the US mission to the international organisations in Vienna, Austria from 2007 to 2010. He also served at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India as Deputy Chief of Mission from 2006 to 2007 and as Political Counselor from 2002 to 2006. Ambassador Pyatt served as Economic Officer at the US Consulate General in Hong Kong from 1999 to 2002 and as principal officer at the US Consulate General in Lahore, Pakistan from 1997 to 1999. Since joining the foreign service in 1989, he has also served on the National Security Council staff, on the staff of deputy secretary Strobe Talbott and at posts in Honduras and India.
Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he worked with The Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank that brings together leading citizens of the Americas.
Ambassador Pyatt grew up in La Jolla, California and holds a master’s degree in international relations from Yale and B.A. in political science from the University of California, Irvine.
Edi Rama
Prime minister, Albania (via connection)
Edi Rama was born in Tirana, on July 4, 1964. He is married to Linda Rama and they have three children, Greg, Rea and Zaho. With a remarkably rich and diverse career path, Edi Rama counts his contribution in arts, sports and teaching, as a publicist and politician. He used to be a professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts, a player of the national basketball team, and authored two books, namely, Refleksione (Reflections), together with Ardian Klosi, which was published immediately after the collapse of the dictatorship and Kurban, published in 2011. Additionally, Edi Rama has published two art books containing his works in collaboration with the distinguished artist Anri Sala.
Edi Rama’s involvement in the public and political life of the country starts with the movement for democracy that led to the dismantling of the communist regime in Albania, with Rama being one of the most publicly outspoken members and a key leader of the students’ movement at the Academy of Fine Arts. Following a hiatus of several years in which he left Albania to dedicate to the artistic life, although he remained a staunch critic in the press of the first post-communist government, Edi Rama entered politics in the capacity of the minister of culture, youth and sports, in 1998. During all his tenure he won the support and wide appreciation of the Albanian public opinion for his creative and efficient ways of promoting art and culture in Albania.
In 2000, Edi Rama ran for mayor of Tirana Municipality, with the support of the Socialist Party and marked a landslide victory against his rival. Under his leadership, Tirana Municipality turned into a modern European institution. His projects to introduce colour in public spaces, amongst the ruined facades of residential buildings of the communist era, the rehabilitation of Lana Riverbed, the increase of recreational parks and green areas in the city, as well as the reconstruction of Tirana’s road network based on entirely new standards found international recognition, counting a series of awards, amongst which, World Mayor Award (2004) and European Hero Award by Time Magazine. Edi Rama was re-elected as mayor of Tirana in 2003 and 2007 and led the Albanian capital for 11 years.
In 2005, Edi Rama was elected chair of the Socialist Party of Albania, leading this force through the difficult opposition years and into the overwhelming victory of 23 June 2013.
Klaus Regling
Managing director, European Stability Mechanism
Klaus Regling is the current and first Managing Director of the European Stability Mechanism.Klaus Regling is also the CEO of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), a position he has held since the creation of the EFSF in June 2010.
Klaus Regling has worked for 40 years as an economist in senior positions in the public and the private sector in Europe, Asia, and the U.S., including a decade with the IMF in Washington and Jakarta and a decade with the German Ministry of Finance where he prepared Economic and Monetary Union in Europe.
From 2001 to 2008, he was Director General for Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission.
During 2008-2009, he spent a year at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore where he researched financial and monetary integration in Asia. Subsequently, he opened an economic and financial consultancy in Brussels.
Previously, Mr. Regling had gained experience in the private sector as Managing Director of the Moore Capital Strategy Group in London (1999‑2001) and as an economist with the German Bankers’ Association.
Mr. Regling studied economics at the Universities of Hamburg and Regensburg.
Nikos Rogakos
Journalist
Nikos Rogakos has worked at ANT1 TV from 2000 until today. He is head of the economy and finance desk at ANT1 News division.
Shows: Anchor of the weekend news programme “Morning Press”. He is a financial editor at the “Vradyni tis Kyriakis” newspaper and contributes articles to the financial site Powergame.gr.
Nikos Rogakos has worked for ANT1 Radio as a financial editor & radio producer, at Real FM as a producer for a daily political talk-show and as staff journalist for the “Eleftherotypia” newspaper.
Studies: Department of Media and Culture, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences (B.A.)
European Economics and Analysis ( MBA at NYU)
Tuomas Saarenheimo
President, Eurogroup Working Group (EWG) (via connection)
Tuomas Saarenheimo has been the president of the Euro Working Group (EWG) since April 2020. The EWG prepares the meetings of the Eurogroup and coordinates on euro-area specific matters. It is composed of senior representatives of the euro-area member states of the Economic and Financial Committee, the European Commission and the European Central Bank.
Tuomas Saarenheimo also serves as the president of the Economic and Financial Committee, which prepares the ECOFIN Council and promotes policy coordination among EU member states. Until April 2020, he was permanent under-secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Finland, responsible for international and financial matters. He joined the Ministry in 2013. In this position he was member of the EU Economic and Financial Committee, the Eurogroup Working Group, the board of directors of the European Stability Mechanism, and the Board of Directors of the European Financial Stability Facility.
Prior to joining the Ministry of Finance, Mr Saarenheimo served several spells at the Bank of Finland, ending as chief economist and head of monetary policy and research. He has also held positions as executive director for Nordic and Baltic countries at the International Monetary Fund, as national expert at the European Commission and as researcher at the University of Helsinki. Mr Saarenheimo graduated in 1989 from the University of Helsinki, where he also gained PhD in Economics in 1994.
John Sarbanes
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, member, House Committee on Energy and Commerce (via connection)
Congressman John Sarbanes has represented Maryland’s Third Congressional District in the U.S. Congress since 2007.
He currently serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change. He serves as vice-chair of the House Subcommittee on Health. Congressman Sarbanes also serves on the House Oversight and Reform Committee and its Subcommittee on Government Operations. He chairs the Democracy Reform Task Force, which has assembled HR1, the For The People Act, to reform and strengthen our democracy.
Born and raised in Baltimore, Congressman Sarbanes has experience working in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. He and his family live in Towson, giving him the opportunity to drive home every night and hear from the people he serves in Congress. Listening to their concerns allows him to better represent Maryland and has shaped his work in the House of Representatives.
Notis Sardelas
Managing partner, Sardelas Petsa Law Firm
Notis is a partner at Sardelas Petsa Law Firm and an expert in the field of banking & finance and capital markets, including the financing of real estate and energy projects. His 20-year practice includes advising clients, mainly financial institutions, on financings, restructurings and underwritings of ECM and DCM transactions, as well as acting for companies and investors on M&A transactions, mainly involving listed companies.
He has played an instrumental role in the recent development of the Greek corporate bond market, advising on the structuring of the first listed corporate bond offering based on the new electronic bookbuilding platform, which paved the way for all the subsequent issues to date. Also, he has considerable expertise and experience in privatisations and state assets development, having acted, since 2001, for foreign investors and the Greek state in a significant number of landmark transactions. During his 2-year tenure as legal adviser to the Ministry of Finance and HRADF, he was involved in the State privatisation programme and the establishment of the financial stability framework. Notis is a member of the supervisory board of ICAP.
He holds law degrees from the LSE and the Athens Law School and LL.M. in Banking & Finance from the University of London (Queen Mary & Westfield).
Wolfgang Schäuble
President, German Bundestag (via connection)
Wolfgang Schäuble was born in Freiburg on 18 September 1942. He is Protestant, married and has four children. He studied law and economics at the universities of Freiburg and Hamburg and was awarded the degree of Dr jur. in 1971.
Dr Schäuble has been a member of the German Bundestag since 1972 and served as the parliamentary secretary of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group from 1981 to 1984. He then held the offices of federal minister for special tasks and head of the Federal Chancellery before serving as federal minister of the interior from 1989 to 1991. Dr Schäuble has been a member of the CDU National Executive Committee since 1989. He headed the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag from 1991 until 2000; from 1998 until 2000 he was also national chairman of the CDU. He has been a member of the CDU Presidium since then. He was the deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag for foreign, security and European policy from 2002 to 2005, following which he again served as federal minister of the interior. He was federal minister of finance from 2009 to 2017. On 24 October 2017 Wolfgang Schäuble was elected president of the German Bundestag.
Wolfgang Schäuble has written a number of books: Der Vertrag. Wie ich über die deutsche Einheit verhandelte (The treaty: How I conducted the negotiations on German unification, 1991); Und der Zukunft zugewandt (Looking to the future, 1994); Und sie bewegt sich doch (And yet it moves, 1998); Mitten im Leben (In the prime of life, 2000); Scheitert der Westen? Deutschland, Die neue Weltordnung (Is the West failing? Germany and the new world order, 2003), Zukunft mit Maß. Was wir aus der Krise lernen können (Future of moderation: What we can learn from the crisis, 2009), and Anders gemeinsam. Ein deutsch-französisches Gespräch über Flüchtlinge, Griechenland, Europa, den Euro und die schwarze Null (Different together: a German-French conversation on refugees, Greece, Europe, the Euro and the balanced budget, 2016, with Michel Sapin).
Martin Schulz
Former president, European Parliament, chair, Friedrich Ebert Foundation
Martin Schulz is an important thought leader of Europe. His views have deeply influenced his party's pro-European politics and his enthusiasm for Europe has shaped his political career. The German politician is fluent in English, Dutch and French. Martin Schulz is a convinced European and an ardent EU supporter who considers the European unification as being civilization's greatest achievement over the past century.
After attending a private Roman Catholic school in Würselen, Martin Schulz (*1955) trained to be a bookseller and worked for a number of publishing houses and bookshops. In 1982 he opened his own bookshop in Würselen. In 1974 he joined the SPD and in 1984 he was elected to the Würselen Municipal Council remaining a member for just over two electoral terms, to 1998, from 1987 onwards as mayor. Aged 31 he was then the youngest mayor in North Rhine-Westphalia. He held that office until 1998. From 1994 to 2017 Martin Schulz was Member of the European Parliament. For some years he was chair of the SPD delegation and he served on a number of committees. He was elected group leader of the PSE Group in 2004 and also acted as the representative for European Affairs for Germany's SPD party.
From 2012 to 2017 Martin Schulz was President of the European Parliament and has also set national economic policy milestones. For example, in budgetary policy. Schulz supported the course of promoting growth, trade and change through investment and rejected the austerity policy as neoliberal. From 1999 to 2018 Martin Schulz has been part of the SPD leadership and from 2017 to 2018 he was leader of his party. In 2017 he stood as the SPD candidate for the German Chancellorship and impressed with a clear economic policy profile, among other things. After the electoral defeat of his party Martin Schulz declared to resign as SPD chairman. From 2017 until 2021 he was a member of the Bundestag and and since December 2020 he is the President of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. For his political engagement Martin Schulz has received numerous honours like the Federal Cross of Merit (First Class), the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen and he is Officer of the French Légion d'honneur.
Konstantinos Skrekas
Minister of environment and energy, Greece
Konstantinos Skrekas comes from Megarhi, Trikala. He is married to Eirini Karagouni and has two daughters, Alexandra and Sophia. He holds a degree in civil engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Civil Engineering department, Faculty of Technology), and an M.Sc. in construction management from the University of Birmingham, UK.
After completing his studies, he worked in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods sector in managerial positions. He is the co-founder of a company operating in the FMCG sector and held the posisition of CEO for 15 years. In the general election of May 6th 2012 he was elected Member of the Greek Parliament (MP) for the Constituency of Trikala with the New Democracy Party. He was re-elected on 17th June of the same year. On the 25th of January 2015 he was elected Member of the Greek Parliament (MP), receiving the largest number of electoral votes among candidates from all political parties, in the Constituency of Trikala. He was re-elected in the elections on 20th September of the same year. In the general elections on 7th July 2019 he was elected member of the Greek Parliament for the Constituency of Trikala.
During his terms of office in the Hellenic Parliament he has been a member of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs, the Standing Committee on Production and Trade, the Special Permanent Committee on Research and Technology and the Special Permanent Committee on Environmental Protection. He was also shadow minister for the environment and energy sector for the New Democracy Party from January 2016 – June 2019. He was appointed minister of development and competitiveness from October 2014 until February 2015. On July 9th 2019 he was appointed deputy minister of rural development and food, being specifically responsible for the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). On 5th January 2021 he was appointed minister of the environment and energy. Konstantinos Skrekas speaks English and French.
Theodoros Skylakakis
Minister of environment & energy, Greece
Theodoros Skylakakis was born in 1959 in Athens. He is an economist. Member of Parliament for New Democracy (2022-23). Minister of environment and energy from June 2023. Alternate minister of finance, responsible for Fiscal Policy and responsible for preparing and coordinating the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan "Greece 2.0" (2020-23). Deputy minister of Fiscal Policy (2019-20), member of the European Parliament (2009-14), secretary-general for International Economic Relations and Development Cooperation (2006-09), municipal councilor, deputy mayor and deputy mayor of Athens (2003-06), responsible for preparing for the 2004 Olympic Games. From 1990 to 1993 he served as advisor to prime minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis and head of the prime minister's Planning and Communication Office.
Mr Skylakakis also served as president and director-general of the E21 Research Centre (1994-2001). He was the last president of Drasi (2014-19), which suspended its activity to support New Democracy.
He has worked in advertising and communication since 1985 and he has founded four companies in the fields of communication (1994-99), crisis management (2000-06) and agricultural production & processing (2014-19).
He studied economics in Greece (University of Athens) and business administration (MBA) in England (City University, London) and received a master's degree from the British Market Research Society in Market Research. He has received a PhD from the Department of History and Philosophy of Science of the University of Athens, entitled: "Social tolerance to corruption".
He is married to Eleni Papapanou, has two daughters, Marianna and Irene and four granddaughters.
Ioannis Smyrlis
Secretary-general for international economic relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Greece
Ioannis Smyrlis is a political scientist, graduate of the department of political sciences and public administration with a postgraduate diploma in international and European relations from the University of Athens (EKPA).
He represented the Ministry of Interior during the rotating Greek Presidency of the EU in 2013-14. He was press and public relations consultant of ODIE SA. in 2009-10, adviser to the general secretary of the Ministry of Shipping in 2007-09 and adviser to the general secretary of S.E.P.E. in 2005-07. He was elected as the 1st president from Greece of the Youth Organization of the European People's Party (YEPP) 2007-09, the largest political youth organization in Europe. He served as secretary of international and EU Relations of Nea Demokratia party and a member of the political bureau of the European People's Party (EPP) in 2013-19. During that time, he cultivated personal relationships with major stakeholders in Brussels and other European capitals. He was a European fellow of the German Marshall Foundation of the USA and a member of the EU Youth Assembly for the European Constitution (2003), the Hellenic Society of Political Science (E.E.P.E.) and the Hellenic Society of International Law and International Relations of the Aegean Institute for the Law of the Sea and Navigation.
He has been a freelancer since 2009 in activities related to catering, trade and import-export. He speaks English and French.
Christos Staikouras was born in Lamia, Fthiotida, in 1973. He was elected MP in Fthiotida with Nea Demokratia political party on the election of 2007, 2009, 2012 (May and June), 2015 (January and September) and July 2019.
From October 2009 until June 2012 he was deputy head of the Economic Policy Sector of Nea Demokratia. From June 2012 he was appointed as alternate minister of finance, and held his position until the election of January 2015. From February 2015 until June 2019 he was the head of ND Economic Policy Sector.
From July 2019 he was appointed as minister of finance.
Christos Staikouras holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the Management School, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of London, and a Doctor’s degree (PhD in Banking) from the Department of Banking and Finance, Cass Business School, City University. He is associate professor in Finance at the Athens University of Economics and Business. He was part time academic staff at the Hellenic Open University (2004-07), assistant at the Athens University of Economics and Business (2006 - 19), visiting professor at the Universities of Thessaly, Athens, City and European University Cyprus.
He has worked at the Central Bank of England and the Eurobank Group.
He has published over 50 research papers in international refereed scientific journals, books and monographs and he has also participated in many scientific international conferences.
Christos Staikouras is member of scientific and research societies and organizations.
Peer Steinbrück
Former federal minister of finance, Germany
Peer Steinbrück, member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), was federal mnister of finance (2005 to 2009) and prime minister of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (2002 to 2005). In 2013, he ran for chancellor as an opposition candidate but failed to carry the election.
Having resigned from his mandate in the Bundestag in September of 2016, Peer Steinbrück now engaged in the founding of the Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung. An economist by training, he was head of the office of the minister president of North Rhine-Westphalia, Johannes Rau, from 1986 to 1990. In 1993, he became minister of economic affairs and infrastructure in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. He then returned to North Rhine-Westphalia, where he became the minister of economic affairs and infrastructure in 1998 and finance minister in 2000.
Andrea Testi
Chairman, Elpedison
Harry Theoharis
Minister of tourism, Greece
Theodore Tryfon
President, Panhellenic Union of Pharmaceutical Industry (PEF)
Theodore E. Tryfon was born in Mytilini – Lesvos. He graduated from Athens College of Greece and earned his BSc in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Southampton in UK. He continued his studies by earning an MBA from City University of London Business School.
In 1992 he joined Elpen Pharmaceutical Co. and presently is the vice-president and co/CEO of ELPEN Group. In 2022, ELPEN Group had a turnover of 300,000,000€ and more than 1,350 employees in Greece and abroad. Since 2023, in addition to the three productions units at Pikermi, Attikis, ELPEN has also been operating a new 12,000 m2 Development and Manufacturing facility in Keratea, Attikis.
ELPEN holds a leading position in the pharmaceutical market, exporting to over 90 countries and has the largest Research, Training and Experimental Center of the Greek Pharmaceutical Industry.
Since 2014, Mr Tryfon has been elected as president of the Panhellenic Union of Pharmaceutical Industries (PEF), an association which represents 50 companies with 45 production sites throughout Greece. In 2019 he became a member of the Board of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) as well as a member of the Board of Directors of Medicines for Europe, the European Association representing the European Generic and Value Added Medicines Industry.
Pierre Vergerio
Chief executive officer, IGI Poseidon
Peter Vlitas serves as the executive senior vice-president of supplier relations for Internova Travel Group. As a member of Internova’s leadership team, Mr Vlitas focuses his area of expertise to provide benefits to all business divisions within Internova, managing the relationships with airlines to maximize the marketing and sales of their products to the organization’s more than 52,000 travel advisors. Mr Vlitas is based in New York City.
Before assuming his current role, Mr Vlitas served as senior vice-president of airline sales & marketing of Internova Travel Group’s Protravel International division for over 17 years. Throughout this tenure with Internova Travel Group, he was responsible for managing the many aspects of its airline programs, including industry relationships, airline contract negotiations and corporate travel. While advisers relied on his depth of knowledge, advice and counsel to ensure that their clients were receiving the same excellent service in the air as they do on the ground, he also oversaw the team responsible for revenue management, rates, costs containment and adherence to contractual parameters. Overall, Mr Vlitas has held various positions within the travel industry over the past 35 years, starting as a travel adviser at age 18 while studying Engineering attending Brooklyn Polytechnic University.
Today, Mr Vlitas sits on several airline advisory boards, IATA’S GTEC and ARC TEC boards, Government Tourism boards and is involved with numerous philanthropic activities within the Hellenic-American community.
Diana Voutyrakou
Coach, Plaisiobots, gold medal at the International Robotics Olympiad for Youngsters
Diana Voutyrakou (25 years old) is an Electrical Engineering and Computer Science graduate (MEng & BSc) from the National Technical University of Athens. In addition, she carries several awards from Robotics Competitions (National, European and International) as well as two Olympic Distinctions.
At the moment, she works as an Educational Robotics instructor and she has also founded an NGO, called Unique Minds,which helps young student to find and follow their ideal academic path. She is also author of Educational Robotics Book and a global Ambassador of G(irls)20 trying to empower more young women in STEM. All the above, led her among others to earn the Greek International Women Award, the Education Leaders Award and to be included at the Forbes 30 Under 30 GR list 2019.
Konstantinos Xifaras
Chief executive officer, DEPA
Mr Konstantinos Xifaras is the CEO of DEPA COMMERCIAL S.A.
He is a graduate of the Department of Production Engineering and Management of the Technical University of Crete and is specialized in Operational Research.
In September 2019, he was appointed CEO of DEPA at a crucial turning point, in view of the privatization process. Under his leadership, both the privatization preparatory stage and the corporate transformation in 3 distinct companies were successfully completed. Mr Xifaras has been leading the effort to expand the company's activities through the use of smart technologies, the spread of the use of CNG as a vehicle fuel through FISIKON refueling stations network, and the promotion of natural gas as a marine fuel.
Mr Xifaras is the vice-chairman of the TCG, the secretary of the Greek National Committee in the WEC, as well as the Greek National Representative in the WEC. He is one of the 18 co-chairs of the ECH2A and member of the Governing Board of Eurogas.
Mr Xifaras has extended experience as a researcher and business consultant and has been appointed in leadership positions. He has served as special adviser to the leadership of the Ministries of Development (2005-06) and the Environment, Energy and Climate Change (2013). He has also held the position of director of the office of the deputy minister of development, competitiveness, infrastructure, transport and networks, responsible for the management of the implementation and funds absorption of the NSRF 2007-13 and the design of the new programming period 2014-20.
George D. Yancopoulos
Co-founder, president and chief scientific officer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (via connection)
George D. Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., has built Regeneron alongside Len Schleifer as its president and chief scientific officer for the past 30 years.
Regeneron invents life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases. Its unique ability to repeatedly and consistently translate science into medicine has led to nine FDA-approved treatments and numerous product candidates in development, all of which were homegrown in its laboratories, for a range of diseases, including cancer, vision-threatening eye diseases, asthma and infectious diseases. George is the holder of more than 100 patents and a principal inventor of Regeneron’s FDA-approved medicines and foundational technologies. He is the key driver of Regeneron’s unique science-driven culture and successful drug discovery and development engine, which includes the company’s COVID-19 programme to address the ongoing pandemic with an investigational antibody cocktail.
After graduating as valedictorian at both Bronx High and Columbia University, George received his M.D. and Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics from Columbia University. George was the 11th most highly cited scientist in the world in the 1990s, in 2004 was elected to both the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Sciences, and in 2014 was elected as a fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
John Yfantopoulos
Professor of health economics, University of Athens
John Yfantopoulos is emeritus professor at the University of Athens, former president of the National Centre for Social Research and Ex-president of the National Board of Public Health. He received his doctor of Philosophy in Health Economics from the University of York, UK. He has extensive teaching and research experience across Europe, and the USA.
He has been working and advising the European Commission, the W.Η.Ο, the ILO, and the World Bank. He was elected rapporteur of the 23rd WHO Regional Office for Europe and the elected chair of the 11th European Congress of ISPOR. In November 2008, he was awarded the ISPOR Distinguished Service Award. He participated in the Social Protection Committee (SPC) of the European Commission. He was a member of the Core Standing Committee for Social Science in the European Science Foundation (ESF) and he has conducted comparative research based on large European multicultural studies for reforming and re-engineering health systems. In 2005 in the evaluation of the Greek research centers from an international peer review committee, he received the highest grade (excellent (5)) for his scientific work, commitment to international collaboration and research networking.
He has published 39 books, as well as more than 280 scientific articles in international peer review journals.
Yiannis Yiarentis
Chairman of the BoD and CEO, DAPEEP
Yiannis Yiarentis has been the chairman of BoD and CEO at the Renewable Energy Sources Operator & Guarantees of Origin (DAPEEP) from August 2019 until today. He holds a significant Greek and international experience in top management positions, in both private and public sector, with the most important, that of the president and CEO of IPTO (ADMIE) from 2013 to 2015 when he paved the way for major electrical Interconnections with Greek islands (Cyclades) and all major infrastructure projects, such as the Megalopolis HVC, the interconnection of Polypotamos and many more projects that breathed life into the Electric System. Before that he had a long-term international career in large multinational and Greek companies in the Energy field. He has been a member of National and International Councils and Committees (Entso-e, MED-TSO). He holds a degree in Petroleum Engineering and Production Engineering and Management and a postgraduate degree (MSc) in Sustainable Development.
Zoran Zaev
Former prime minister, North Macedonia
Zoran Zaev is former prime minister of the Republic of North Macedonia, serving at the position from June 2017 till January 2020 and from August 2020 till January 2022. In July 2018, at the NATO Summit in Brussels, Zoran Zaev received the invitation for the start of the accession negotiations of the Republic of North Macedonia for NATO membership and on March 27th 2020 North Macedonia became part of NATO. Since becoming prime minister, Zoran Zaev has signed the Agreement for Strategic Partnership, Friendship and Good-Neighbourliness with Bulgaria, and in June 2018, the new Government led by Zoran Zaev, signed the Prespa Agreement with Greece for the resolution of the name issue. Zaev, together with the former prime minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras, is a recipient of the Ewald Fon Kleist award, the International Peace of Westphalia for 2020, the Hessian Peace Prize 2020 and the Emerging Europe award for best practice in promoting cooperation, unity, inclusion, diversity and positive thinking. The two leaders were also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019. Zoran Zaev received the 2020 Human Rights Award of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) in Berlin.
From 2003 to 2005, he was a member of North Macedonia’s Parliament, after which he ran for Mayor of Strumica, a position he held for three consecutive terms, from 2005 to 2016. In 2008 and 2009 the city won the highest national environmental award, while as Mayor, Mr Zaev won the Best Practice Award from the Council of Europe for the first Public Private Partnership in the country. He was elected as leader of the ruling party SDSM since 2013 and led the party till December 2021, after serving as vice president between 2006 and 2013. Mr Zaev has been a member of the SDSM since 1996. Since June 2022 Zoran Zaev is one of the founders and director of “Zaev Foundation One Society For All”. He is an economist, married and father of two children.
George Zavvos
Deputy minister of finance in charge of the financial system, Ministry of Finance, Greece
Agenda
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8:00 AM EEST
Registration
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9:10 AM EEST
Opening remarks
THE ECONOMIST’S FORECAST- Lessons to be learnt from covid-19
- The governments’ and EU’s response
- The pandemic’s impact on the economy in 2022
Daniel Franklin
Executive and diplomatic editor, The Economist
Daniel Franklin has been executive editor of The Economist since 2006 and the newspaper’s diplomatic editor from mid-2018. For 17 years until 2020 he was editor of The Economist’s annual publication, The World in..., which focuses on the year ahead.
His book on the future of technology, Megatech: Technology in 2050, was published in 2017, building on his previous book on long-term trends, Megachange: The World in 2050, published in 2012.
He joined The Economist in 1983 to write about Soviet and East European affairs. As the newspaper’s Europe editor from 1986 to 1992 he covered the great European upheavals, from the collapse of communism to the signing of the Maastricht treaty. After a stint as Britain editor he moved to the United States as Washington bureau chief, covering the first Clinton term. In 1997 he moved back to London as editorial director of the Economist Intelligence Unit. From 2006 to 2010 he was editor-in-chief of Economist.com, and was the newspaper’s business-affairs editor from 2010 to 2014.
Joan Hoey
Editorial director, The Democracy Index, Europe consultant, The Economist Group
Joan is the director for The Economist's flagship annual Democracy Index, recognised by governments, international organisations, corporates and academia as a leading measure of global democracy. She is an expert on European political economy, with a special interest in democracy, governance, political risk and east European post-communist transition, and a writer on international affairs.
Joan is a former regional director for Europe at the Economist Intelligence Unit, leading a team of analysts covering 50 countries in Europe and central Asia, and now works as a consultant for the Economist Group. Joan joined EIU in 1995, working as a senior analyst for Eastern Europe before becoming regional manager and then director for Europe.
She began her career as a journalist covering UK and Irish affairs, before developing her interest and expertise in Eastern Europe over several decades from the late 1980s. She covered the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the wars in the former Yugoslavia, before pursuing her career in country analysis and forecasting. Joan studied British, American and European History at Sussex University. She pursued postgraduate studies in Industrial Relations, and having grown up in a mill town in Lancashire, focused her research on the first major immigrant strike in Britain, by Asian and West Indian workers at Courtaulds’ Red Scar Mills factory in Preston in 1965.
Joan is often invited to share her perspectives on Europe with senior corporate executives, academics and diplomatic officials. She is an accomplished chairperson. She has chaired more than 50 Economist events, including prime ministers, presidents and senior government ministers and business leaders. She is an experienced public speaker, and has spoken at many international forums, and is a frequent commentator on European affairs.
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9:10 AM EEST
Discussion
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9:15 AM EEST
Official opening
EUROPE: FROM SOCIAL DISTANCING TO SOCIAL SOLIDARITY- Europe’s fight against the pandemic
- Is the pandemic reinforcing ethnocentric trends in Europe?
- Is there a vision for the post-covid era?
- Trans-atlantic ties: back to the drawing board
- Why is female leadership needed more in the covid-19 crisis and beyond?
Dominique de Villepin
Former prime minister, France
Mr De Villepin was prime minister of France from 2005 to 2007. His political career began in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1980, in the department of African Affairs and the policy planning staff. Since then, he has held international positions in several embassies as Washington or New Delhi.
From 1995 to 2002 he was chief of staff to the president of the Republic, before becoming minister of foreign affairs from 2002 to 2004 and minister of the interior, internal security and local rights from 2004 to 2005. Prime minister from 2005 to 2007, lawyer from 2008 to 2015.
Since 2015, president of the consulting company Villepin International. Since 2008, he has been the president of Villepin International, a consulting firm to accompany the strategies for transnational investments and activities particularly in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Born in Morocco in 1953, Mr De Villepin holds a B.A. in Law, and graduated from the Paris Institute of Political Sciences and the prestigious Ecole Nationale d’Administration.
He is the author of many books, historical and political essays, as well as essays on literature and poetry.
Martin Schulz
Former president, European Parliament, chair, Friedrich Ebert Foundation
Martin Schulz is an important thought leader of Europe. His views have deeply influenced his party's pro-European politics and his enthusiasm for Europe has shaped his political career. The German politician is fluent in English, Dutch and French. Martin Schulz is a convinced European and an ardent EU supporter who considers the European unification as being civilization's greatest achievement over the past century.
After attending a private Roman Catholic school in Würselen, Martin Schulz (*1955) trained to be a bookseller and worked for a number of publishing houses and bookshops. In 1982 he opened his own bookshop in Würselen. In 1974 he joined the SPD and in 1984 he was elected to the Würselen Municipal Council remaining a member for just over two electoral terms, to 1998, from 1987 onwards as mayor. Aged 31 he was then the youngest mayor in North Rhine-Westphalia. He held that office until 1998. From 1994 to 2017 Martin Schulz was Member of the European Parliament. For some years he was chair of the SPD delegation and he served on a number of committees. He was elected group leader of the PSE Group in 2004 and also acted as the representative for European Affairs for Germany's SPD party.
From 2012 to 2017 Martin Schulz was President of the European Parliament and has also set national economic policy milestones. For example, in budgetary policy. Schulz supported the course of promoting growth, trade and change through investment and rejected the austerity policy as neoliberal. From 1999 to 2018 Martin Schulz has been part of the SPD leadership and from 2017 to 2018 he was leader of his party. In 2017 he stood as the SPD candidate for the German Chancellorship and impressed with a clear economic policy profile, among other things. After the electoral defeat of his party Martin Schulz declared to resign as SPD chairman. From 2017 until 2021 he was a member of the Bundestag and and since December 2020 he is the President of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. For his political engagement Martin Schulz has received numerous honours like the Federal Cross of Merit (First Class), the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen and he is Officer of the French Légion d'honneur.
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović
Former president, Croatia
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović is the 4th and 1st female President of Croatia (2015-2020) with broad national and international experience in politics, diplomacy and security studies. She was elected a Member of the Croatian Parliament (2003), and served as Croatia’s first female Minister of Foreign Affairs (2003-2008) and Ambassador to the United States, Mexico, Panama and OAS (2008-2011), as well as the first female Assistant Secretary General and member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Senior Leadership (2011-2014).
She was elected an independent member of the International Olympic Committee in 2020, and has been appointed Chair of the Future Hosts Commission for the Games of the Olympiad. Currently she is a Special Advisor to the Dean of the Zagreb School of Economics and Management, and serves on the boards of a number of non-profit institutions, such as Friends of Europe, the US Atlantic Council, GLOBSEC, Halifax International Security Forum, the Concordia Leadership Council. She is a Member of the High-Level Advisory Council for the High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), the Global Ambassador for Immunization for Women Political Leaders (WPL), and chair emerita of the Council of Women World Leaders.
Parallel to her diplomatic and political careers, she has pursued an academic career in government, international relations and security studies at the Vienna Diplomatic Academy (1994-1995), the George Washington University (2002-2003), Harvard University (2009), the Johns Hopkins University (2011), and the University of Zagreb.
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9:40 AM EEST
Discussion
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10:10 AM EEST
THE GREEK ECONOMY: LONG-STANDING CHALLENGES AND THE POST-COVID ROAD MAP
- A strategy to achieve sustainable growth
- Public-debt concerns: How is the government responding?
- Europe’s viewpoint
- The banking sector’s perspective
Christos Staikouras
Minister of finance, Greece
Christos Staikouras was born in Lamia, Fthiotida, in 1973. He was elected MP in Fthiotida with Nea Demokratia political party on the election of 2007, 2009, 2012 (May and June), 2015 (January and September) and July 2019.
From October 2009 until June 2012 he was deputy head of the Economic Policy Sector of Nea Demokratia. From June 2012 he was appointed as alternate minister of finance, and held his position until the election of January 2015. From February 2015 until June 2019 he was the head of ND Economic Policy Sector.
From July 2019 he was appointed as minister of finance.Christos Staikouras holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the Management School, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of London, and a Doctor’s degree (PhD in Banking) from the Department of Banking and Finance, Cass Business School, City University. He is associate professor in Finance at the Athens University of Economics and Business. He was part time academic staff at the Hellenic Open University (2004-07), assistant at the Athens University of Economics and Business (2006 - 19), visiting professor at the Universities of Thessaly, Athens, City and European University Cyprus.
He has worked at the Central Bank of England and the Eurobank Group.
He has published over 50 research papers in international refereed scientific journals, books and monographs and he has also participated in many scientific international conferences.
Christos Staikouras is member of scientific and research societies and organizations.
Klaus Regling
Managing director, European Stability Mechanism
Klaus Regling is the current and first Managing Director of the European Stability Mechanism.Klaus Regling is also the CEO of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), a position he has held since the creation of the EFSF in June 2010.
Klaus Regling has worked for 40 years as an economist in senior positions in the public and the private sector in Europe, Asia, and the U.S., including a decade with the IMF in Washington and Jakarta and a decade with the German Ministry of Finance where he prepared Economic and Monetary Union in Europe.
From 2001 to 2008, he was Director General for Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission.
During 2008-2009, he spent a year at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore where he researched financial and monetary integration in Asia. Subsequently, he opened an economic and financial consultancy in Brussels.
Previously, Mr. Regling had gained experience in the private sector as Managing Director of the Moore Capital Strategy Group in London (1999‑2001) and as an economist with the German Bankers’ Association.
Mr. Regling studied economics at the Universities of Hamburg and Regensburg.
Peer Steinbrück
Former federal minister of finance, Germany
Peer Steinbrück, member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), was federal mnister of finance (2005 to 2009) and prime minister of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (2002 to 2005). In 2013, he ran for chancellor as an opposition candidate but failed to carry the election.
Having resigned from his mandate in the Bundestag in September of 2016, Peer Steinbrück now engaged in the founding of the Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung. An economist by training, he was head of the office of the minister president of North Rhine-Westphalia, Johannes Rau, from 1986 to 1990. In 1993, he became minister of economic affairs and infrastructure in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. He then returned to North Rhine-Westphalia, where he became the minister of economic affairs and infrastructure in 1998 and finance minister in 2000.
Pavlos Mylonas
CEO, National Bank of Greece
Pavlos Mylonas was appointed chief executive officer of National Bank of Greece in July 2018.He joined NBG in 2000 and served, inter alia, as deputy CEO, CRO and head of strategy. He worked on the staff of the OECD from 1995 to 2000, and at the International Monetary Fund from 1987 to 1995. In the years 1985-1987, he was visiting assistant professor at the Department of Economics in Boston University.He holds a Bachelor of Science in applied mathematics-economics (Magna cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa) from Brown University, as well as a Master of Arts and a PhD in economics from Princeton University.
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10:40 AM EEST
Discussion
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11:10 AM EEST
Break
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11:40 AM EEST
HOW WILL COVID-19 AFFECT GLOBAL COOPERATION?
- Greece’s 40th anniversary with the European Union
- The European Union’s priorities post Covid-19
Margaritis Schinas
Vice-president, promoting our European way of life, European Commission (video message)
Margaritis Schinas
Vice-president, promoting our European way of life, European Commission (video message)
Margaritis Schinas (1962, GR) holds an MSc on Public Administration and Public Policy from the London School of Economics, a Diploma of Advanced European Studies on European Administrative Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges and a Degree in Law from the Aristotelean University of Thessaloniki.Mr. Schinas has worked for the European Commission since 1990 in various positions of responsibility mainly in the private offices of Commissioners.Mr. Schinas was elected Member of the European Parliament in September 2007. Upon the completion of his parliamentary term of office, Mr. Schinas returned to the Commission and as of February 2010 was appointed by President Barroso as Deputy Head of the Bureau of European Policy Advisers.Mr. Schinas later served as Resident Director and Head of the Athens Office of DG ECFIN.As of 1.11.2014, President Juncker appointed Mr. Schinas Chief European Commission Spokesperson.As of 1.12.2019, he has been appointed Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of promoting our European Way of Life.Francis Fukuyama
Senior fellow, Centre on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, Stanford University
Francis Fukuyama
Senior fellow, Centre on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, Stanford University
Francis Fukuyama is Olivier Nomellini senior fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), Mosbacher Director of FSI's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL), and director of Stanford's Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy. He is also professor (by courtesy) of Political Science.
Dr Fukuyama has written widely on issues in development and international politics. His 1992 book, The End of History and the Last Man, has appeared in over twenty foreign editions. His most recent book, Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment, was published in Sept. 2018.
Francis Fukuyama received his B.A. from Cornell University in classics, and his Ph.D. from Harvard in Political Science. He was a member of the Political Science Department of the RAND Corporation, and of the Policy Planning Staff of the US Department of State. From 1996-2000 he was Omer L. and Nancy Hirst professor of public policy at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University, and from 2001-10 he was Bernard L. Schwartz professor of international political economy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. He served as a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics from 2001-04.
Dr Fukuyama holds honorary doctorates from Connecticut College, Doane College, Doshisha University (Japan), Kansai University (Japan), and Aarhus University (Denmark), and the Pardee Rand Graduate School. He is a non-resident fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and at the Center for Global Development. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the Pardee Rand Graduate School and the Volcker Alliance. He is a member of the American Political Science Association and the Council on Foreign Relations. He is married to Laura Holmgren and has three children.
Wolfgang Schäuble
President, German Bundestag (via connection)
Wolfgang Schäuble was born in Freiburg on 18 September 1942. He is Protestant, married and has four children. He studied law and economics at the universities of Freiburg and Hamburg and was awarded the degree of Dr jur. in 1971.
Dr Schäuble has been a member of the German Bundestag since 1972 and served as the parliamentary secretary of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group from 1981 to 1984. He then held the offices of federal minister for special tasks and head of the Federal Chancellery before serving as federal minister of the interior from 1989 to 1991. Dr Schäuble has been a member of the CDU National Executive Committee since 1989. He headed the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag from 1991 until 2000; from 1998 until 2000 he was also national chairman of the CDU. He has been a member of the CDU Presidium since then. He was the deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag for foreign, security and European policy from 2002 to 2005, following which he again served as federal minister of the interior. He was federal minister of finance from 2009 to 2017. On 24 October 2017 Wolfgang Schäuble was elected president of the German Bundestag.
Wolfgang Schäuble has written a number of books: Der Vertrag. Wie ich über die deutsche Einheit verhandelte (The treaty: How I conducted the negotiations on German unification, 1991); Und der Zukunft zugewandt (Looking to the future, 1994); Und sie bewegt sich doch (And yet it moves, 1998); Mitten im Leben (In the prime of life, 2000); Scheitert der Westen? Deutschland, Die neue Weltordnung (Is the West failing? Germany and the new world order, 2003), Zukunft mit Maß. Was wir aus der Krise lernen können (Future of moderation: What we can learn from the crisis, 2009), and Anders gemeinsam. Ein deutsch-französisches Gespräch über Flüchtlinge, Griechenland, Europa, den Euro und die schwarze Null (Different together: a German-French conversation on refugees, Greece, Europe, the Euro and the balanced budget, 2016, with Michel Sapin).
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12:00 PM EEST
Discussion
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12:20 PM EEST
THE EU’S ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL LANDSCAPE: THE CRUCIAL ROLE OF THE RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE FUND (RRF)
- The financing strategy and the euro zone
- Gender equality in investments funded from Recovery and Resilience Facility
Theodoros Skylakakis
Minister of environment & energy, Greece
Theodoros Skylakakis was born in 1959 in Athens. He is an economist. Member of Parliament for New Democracy (2022-23). Minister of environment and energy from June 2023. Alternate minister of finance, responsible for Fiscal Policy and responsible for preparing and coordinating the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan "Greece 2.0" (2020-23). Deputy minister of Fiscal Policy (2019-20), member of the European Parliament (2009-14), secretary-general for International Economic Relations and Development Cooperation (2006-09), municipal councilor, deputy mayor and deputy mayor of Athens (2003-06), responsible for preparing for the 2004 Olympic Games. From 1990 to 1993 he served as advisor to prime minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis and head of the prime minister's Planning and Communication Office.
Mr Skylakakis also served as president and director-general of the E21 Research Centre (1994-2001). He was the last president of Drasi (2014-19), which suspended its activity to support New Democracy.
He has worked in advertising and communication since 1985 and he has founded four companies in the fields of communication (1994-99), crisis management (2000-06) and agricultural production & processing (2014-19).
He studied economics in Greece (University of Athens) and business administration (MBA) in England (City University, London) and received a master's degree from the British Market Research Society in Market Research. He has received a PhD from the Department of History and Philosophy of Science of the University of Athens, entitled: "Social tolerance to corruption".
He is married to Eleni Papapanou, has two daughters, Marianna and Irene and four granddaughters.
Tuomas Saarenheimo
President, Eurogroup Working Group (EWG) (via connection)
Tuomas Saarenheimo has been the president of the Euro Working Group (EWG) since April 2020. The EWG prepares the meetings of the Eurogroup and coordinates on euro-area specific matters. It is composed of senior representatives of the euro-area member states of the Economic and Financial Committee, the European Commission and the European Central Bank.
Tuomas Saarenheimo also serves as the president of the Economic and Financial Committee, which prepares the ECOFIN Council and promotes policy coordination among EU member states. Until April 2020, he was permanent under-secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Finland, responsible for international and financial matters. He joined the Ministry in 2013. In this position he was member of the EU Economic and Financial Committee, the Eurogroup Working Group, the board of directors of the European Stability Mechanism, and the Board of Directors of the European Financial Stability Facility.
Prior to joining the Ministry of Finance, Mr Saarenheimo served several spells at the Bank of Finland, ending as chief economist and head of monetary policy and research. He has also held positions as executive director for Nordic and Baltic countries at the International Monetary Fund, as national expert at the European Commission and as researcher at the University of Helsinki. Mr Saarenheimo graduated in 1989 from the University of Helsinki, where he also gained PhD in Economics in 1994.
Declan Costello
Deputy director-general, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission
Declan Costello
Deputy director-general, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission
Declan Costello was born in Galway, Ireland in 1967.
He has a degree in Economics from Trinity College Dublin and a Masters’ degree from the College of Europe in Bruges.
He joined the European Commission in 1991 and has worked since then in the Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN) working on issues such as the launch of the euro, the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) and subsequently European Semester 2020 strategy.
From 2012 to 2014, he was acting director for resources and communication in DG ECFIN.
From May 2014, he has been the European Commission’s mission chief for Greece. During this period, he led the negotiations with the Greek authorities on the design and monitoring of policy conditionality underpinning the EFSF and subsequently ESM stability programme for Greece. He was also active in the discussions that led to measures being agreed by the Eurogroup in 2016 and 2018 to ensure the sustainability of Greek public debt.
In August 2019, Mr Costello was nominated deputy director-general in DG ECFIN.
Michael Arghyrou
Chairman, Council of Economic Advisers, Greece
Michael G. Arghyrou was born in Nicosia in 1972. He is a graduate of the department of Economics of the Athens University of Economics and Business, and holds a master’s and doctoral degree in Economics from
the University of London (Queen Mary).Since July 2019 he has been head of the Council of Economic Advisers and professor of economics at the department of economics of the University of Piraeus. Previously, he was a lecturer, assistant and associate professor of economics at Cardiff University (2005-19) and a lecturer in economics at Brunel University (1998-2005). His main research interests are international monetary relations, international macroeconomics and the Greek economy. His academic publications cover topics including the European sovereign debt crisis, applied monetary policy, public debt sustainability, as well as exchange rates, current account determination and international trade/ investment.
He is a member of the Scientific Council of the Konstantinos Karamanlis Institute of Democracy in Athens, a member of the research network of the Munich CESifo Group and a member of the Julian Hodge Institute of applied macroeconomics.
Alexis Charitsis
MP, shadow minister of development and investments, SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance
Alexis Charitsis was born in Kalamata in 1977.
He is a Greek politician of the SYRIZA party and since 2019 he is a member of the Greek Parliament for Messinia. He served as press officer of SYRIZA. As of September 2020 he is shadow minister for development and investments.
From 2015-19 he served as minister of interior, alternate minister of economy & development, (responsible for public investments, European structural and investment fun ds, as well as Industry and growth strategy), deputy minister of economy, development and tourism and secretary-general for public investments – NSRF/ PA.
He holds a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and a master's degree in Renewable Energy Sources from the University of Manchester. He worked in the private energy sector for more than 10 years, both in Greece and abroad.
Theodore Tryfon
President, Panhellenic Union of Pharmaceutical Industry (PEF)
Theodore E. Tryfon was born in Mytilini – Lesvos. He graduated from Athens College of Greece and earned his BSc in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Southampton in UK. He continued his studies by earning an MBA from City University of London Business School.
In 1992 he joined Elpen Pharmaceutical Co. and presently is the vice-president and co/CEO of ELPEN Group. In 2022, ELPEN Group had a turnover of 300,000,000€ and more than 1,350 employees in Greece and abroad. Since 2023, in addition to the three productions units at Pikermi, Attikis, ELPEN has also been operating a new 12,000 m2 Development and Manufacturing facility in Keratea, Attikis.
ELPEN holds a leading position in the pharmaceutical market, exporting to over 90 countries and has the largest Research, Training and Experimental Center of the Greek Pharmaceutical Industry.
Since 2014, Mr Tryfon has been elected as president of the Panhellenic Union of Pharmaceutical Industries (PEF), an association which represents 50 companies with 45 production sites throughout Greece. In 2019 he became a member of the Board of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) as well as a member of the Board of Directors of Medicines for Europe, the European Association representing the European Generic and Value Added Medicines Industry.
John Papageorgiou
Journalist, EU affairs reporter, Athens Municipal Radio, founder & head, Athens Digest
John Papageorgiou
Journalist, EU affairs reporter, Athens Municipal Radio, founder & head, Athens Digest
John Papageorgiou is an EU affairs reporter with over 20 years of experience in the media. Since 2012, John has been covering stories related to the Greek financial crisis. He has been hosting his own radio show for several radio stations in Greece since 1992. He currently hosts a morning show for the municipal radio of Athens.
John is the founder and head of “Athens Digest”, a newsletter written exclusively in English, which provides a comprehensive coverage of the latest news from Greece; in parallel, a contributor at Oxford Analytica. He is also a member of the advisory board of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP).
Expert in corporate communication and public affairs, he has delivered such services as well as crisis management for high-level multinational and Greek companies and agencies.
John has earned a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from the University of Athens. He also holds a private college diploma in journalism and radio production.
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12:40 PM EEST
Discussion
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1:00 PM EEST
PROBING THE PANDEMIC
- Assessing the response of national health systems
- Vaccines and therapeutics: victories and obstacles
Stella Kyriakides
Commissioner for health and food safety, European Commission
Ms Kyriakides, in her capacity as the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety since December 2019, is leading the Commission’s work on various portfolios including the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, aiming to improve cancer prevention and care while also she is in charge of developing a new Pharmaceutical Strategy to ensure that Europe can meet its needs relating to affordable medicines.
During the COVID-19 crisis, the Commissioner took on the responsibilities of coordinating the EU’s health response and of supporting Member States to tackle the outbreak.
Ms. Kyriakides has previously worked as a clinical psychologist for 28 consecutive years, in the Mental Health Services of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Cyprus in the area of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, from 1979-2006.
Ms. Kyriakides was elected to the Cyprus Parliament in 2006 and was then re-elected in 2011 and 2016 for the Democratic Rally Party, for which she served duties as Vice-President. In 2012, Ms. Kyriakides was appointed Head of the Cyprus Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and in 2017 she was elected as President of PACE, thus becoming the 30th President of the Assembly.
Notably, she was also the founder of the First Breast Cancer advocacy organization in Cyprus, namely “Europa Donna – Cyprus” and served as the President from 2000-2015. She was also President of the European Breast Cancer Coalition Europa Donna.
Vassilis Kontozamanis
Advisor to the prime minister for health
George D. Yancopoulos
Co-founder, president and chief scientific officer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (via connection)
George D. Yancopoulos
Co-founder, president and chief scientific officer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (via connection)
George D. Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., has built Regeneron alongside Len Schleifer as its president and chief scientific officer for the past 30 years.
Regeneron invents life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases. Its unique ability to repeatedly and consistently translate science into medicine has led to nine FDA-approved treatments and numerous product candidates in development, all of which were homegrown in its laboratories, for a range of diseases, including cancer, vision-threatening eye diseases, asthma and infectious diseases. George is the holder of more than 100 patents and a principal inventor of Regeneron’s FDA-approved medicines and foundational technologies. He is the key driver of Regeneron’s unique science-driven culture and successful drug discovery and development engine, which includes the company’s COVID-19 programme to address the ongoing pandemic with an investigational antibody cocktail.
After graduating as valedictorian at both Bronx High and Columbia University, George received his M.D. and Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics from Columbia University. George was the 11th most highly cited scientist in the world in the 1990s, in 2004 was elected to both the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Sciences, and in 2014 was elected as a fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Theodore Tryfon
President, Panhellenic Union of Pharmaceutical Industry (PEF)
Theodore E. Tryfon was born in Mytilini – Lesvos. He graduated from Athens College of Greece and earned his BSc in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Southampton in UK. He continued his studies by earning an MBA from City University of London Business School.
In 1992 he joined Elpen Pharmaceutical Co. and presently is the vice-president and co/CEO of ELPEN Group. In 2022, ELPEN Group had a turnover of 300,000,000€ and more than 1,350 employees in Greece and abroad. Since 2023, in addition to the three productions units at Pikermi, Attikis, ELPEN has also been operating a new 12,000 m2 Development and Manufacturing facility in Keratea, Attikis.
ELPEN holds a leading position in the pharmaceutical market, exporting to over 90 countries and has the largest Research, Training and Experimental Center of the Greek Pharmaceutical Industry.
Since 2014, Mr Tryfon has been elected as president of the Panhellenic Union of Pharmaceutical Industries (PEF), an association which represents 50 companies with 45 production sites throughout Greece. In 2019 he became a member of the Board of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) as well as a member of the Board of Directors of Medicines for Europe, the European Association representing the European Generic and Value Added Medicines Industry.
John Yfantopoulos
Professor of health economics, University of Athens
John Yfantopoulos is emeritus professor at the University of Athens, former president of the National Centre for Social Research and Ex-president of the National Board of Public Health. He received his doctor of Philosophy in Health Economics from the University of York, UK. He has extensive teaching and research experience across Europe, and the USA.
He has been working and advising the European Commission, the W.Η.Ο, the ILO, and the World Bank. He was elected rapporteur of the 23rd WHO Regional Office for Europe and the elected chair of the 11th European Congress of ISPOR. In November 2008, he was awarded the ISPOR Distinguished Service Award. He participated in the Social Protection Committee (SPC) of the European Commission. He was a member of the Core Standing Committee for Social Science in the European Science Foundation (ESF) and he has conducted comparative research based on large European multicultural studies for reforming and re-engineering health systems. In 2005 in the evaluation of the Greek research centers from an international peer review committee, he received the highest grade (excellent (5)) for his scientific work, commitment to international collaboration and research networking.
He has published 39 books, as well as more than 280 scientific articles in international peer review journals.
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1:30 PM EEST
Discussion
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2:00 PM EEST
Networking luncheon
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3:30 PM EEST
THE FINANCIAL MARKETS AND BANKING IN THE VORTEX OF COVID-19: WHERE IS GREECE STANDING?
- Rebooting the financial system
- Restoring confidence and shielding the banking sector from future shocks
- Reducing non-performing loans: the challenge
- Mainstream and alternative ways to finance growth
- The banking perspective
- The business perspective
George Zavvos
Deputy minister of finance in charge of the financial system, Ministry of Finance, Greece
George Zavvos
Deputy minister of finance in charge of the financial system, Ministry of Finance, Greece
Mr Zavvos is the deputy minister in charge of the banking, securities and private insurance sectors. Since his appointment he has undertaken the reform of the banking sector with the establishment of the Hercules Asset Protection Scheme. Other recent reforms bear on the corporate governance and modernization of the Greek capital market as well as the adoption of the law on microfinance.George Zavvos has served at the European institutions for over 30 years as a Member of the European Parliament (M.E.P.), European Commission ambassador and legal adviser at the Legal Service of the European Commission. Between 2018-19, he was senior adviser on economy and finance at the Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels. Mr Zavvos was also professor at the Solvay Business School (ULB) (1991-93) and visiting professor at Queen Mary University of London (2004-07).George Zavvos holds a Bachelor of Laws from Athens University and a postgraduate Degree on EU Law from the College of Europe (Bruges). He has written and lectured extensively on EU banking and financial services law matters. He is Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Economics in Bratislava (2004) and has been awarded the Double Cross of the Slovak Republic.Paolo Fioretti
Mission chief for Greece, European Stability Mechanism
Paolo Fioretti is the deputy head of financial sector and market analysis at the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). Within the chief economist's department, he is responsible for financial sector analysis and monitoring of the euro area banking sector under the ESM’s early warning system for the implementation of the banks’ direct recapitalisation instrument. After having held the role of ESM country team coordinator for Ireland, Mr Fioretti is currently performing a similar role for Cyprus.
Prior to joining the ESM, Mr Fioretti worked at Unicredit, Fitch Ratings as director in the EMEA Financial Institutions team and in the monitoring department of the European Investment Bank.Mr Fioretti graduated in economics and social science at Bocconi University. He obtained an M.Sc. in banking and finance from the CUOA Business School and the University of Venice.Julia Lendvai
Mission chief for Greece, European Commission
Julia Lendvai is head of unit for Greece at the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission. She has been carrying out the function of mission chief since July 2020. Previously, Julia was heading the unit monitoring economic policies in Finland, Hungary and Slovenia. She is not a novice to the Greek team, as she already worked there as deputy head of unit between March 2016 and March 2019.She started her professional career in the Commission in 2006, where she worked on a wide range of topics, including on the Portuguese economic adjustment programme and as a macroeconomic modeller developing the Commission’s QUEST model.Julia is a Hungarian national and holds a PhD in economics from the University of Namur (Belgium).Martin Bijsterbosch
Mission chief for Greece, ECB
Martin Bijsterbosch is mission chief for Greece at the European Central Bank and deputy head of division in the ECB’s Directorate-General Economics. Martin joined the ECB in 2001. He worked in various positions in DG-Economics, the ECB Representation in Washington DC and DG-Macroprudential Policy & Financial Stability. He was extensively involved in country monitoring, including in Cyprus, Latvia and Portugal.
Martin has published on the role of credit in economic activity, the economic implications of uncertainty and cross-border capital flows. He worked previously at the Bank of Canada and De Nederlandsche Bank, where he started his career. Martin holds a Master degree in monetary economics and studied at the universities of Groningen and Siena.
Costas Michaelides
Chairman of the board, National Bank of Greece
Mr Costas Michaelides was appointed chair of the board of directors of National Bank of Greece in December 2017. Mr Michaelides has over 30 years experience in international banking, from prominent managerial positions in international credit and financial organisations.
During the period 2013-15 he served as global head of strategic change at UBS A.G. From 2005 to 2013 he was EMEA chief operating officer at Credit Suisse A.G. Prior to that, he served as EMEA chief operating officer at Credit Suisse First Boston (2000-05), chief operating officer at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette International (1999-00) and chief financial officer (1988-94) and chief operating officer (1994-99) at EMEA for Merrill Lynch. He has also been treasurer at Salomon Brothers International. (1986-88) and has served in various senior positions at ExxonMobil.
Mr Michaelides holds an MBA in Finance from Columbia Business School, a D octorate in Economics and International Affairs from the University of Denver, and a BA in Economics and Political Science from Ripon College. He was a Fulbright Scholar and a Bronfman Scholar.
Notis Sardelas
Managing partner, Sardelas Petsa Law Firm
Notis is a partner at Sardelas Petsa Law Firm and an expert in the field of banking & finance and capital markets, including the financing of real estate and energy projects. His 20-year practice includes advising clients, mainly financial institutions, on financings, restructurings and underwritings of ECM and DCM transactions, as well as acting for companies and investors on M&A transactions, mainly involving listed companies.
He has played an instrumental role in the recent development of the Greek corporate bond market, advising on the structuring of the first listed corporate bond offering based on the new electronic bookbuilding platform, which paved the way for all the subsequent issues to date. Also, he has considerable expertise and experience in privatisations and state assets development, having acted, since 2001, for foreign investors and the Greek state in a significant number of landmark transactions. During his 2-year tenure as legal adviser to the Ministry of Finance and HRADF, he was involved in the State privatisation programme and the establishment of the financial stability framework. Notis is a member of the supervisory board of ICAP.
He holds law degrees from the LSE and the Athens Law School and LL.M. in Banking & Finance from the University of London (Queen Mary & Westfield).
John Georgoulas
Non-executive director, Ecommbx
John Georgoulas is a Certified Board Director in Banking from INSEAD and a Certified Professional Banker from the Chartered Banker Institute. He has founded several companies in the fields of corporate communications and technology and he is specialized in corporate governance, regulation in the financial services and new technologies. He has served on the board of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission appointed by the Council of Ministers.
Now, he is a Non-Executive Director of ECOMMBX, an electronic money institution regulated by the Central Bank of Cyprus, a Non-Executive Director of TFI Markets, regulated by both the Central Bank of Cyprus and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission and a Non-Executive Director of FXCM, an investment firm regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission and a non-executive director at Swissquote Capital Markets ltd that belongs to Swissquote, a listed financial services firm in the Swiss stock exchange. He is the President of the Cyprus Association of Electronic Money & Payment Institutions, the President of the Cyprus – Serbian Business Association and a member of the board of the American Chamber of Commerce in Cyprus. He has served on several boards in the private sector and at NGOs and he is an alumnus of IVLP from the Department of State of USA.
He has an MBA, a BSc in Business Information Systems and a Diploma of Higher Education in Computer Sciences.
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4:05 PM EEST
Discussion
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4:30 PM EEST
RETHINKING TRAVEL AND TOURISM
- Attractive travel destinations in the era of the pandemic
- The future of business travel
- The significance of domestic and alternative tourism
- Rebranding Greece as a secure and diverse destination
- Partnerships in tourism
- Covid-19 vaccine certificates
Harry Theoharis
Minister of tourism, Greece
Mr Theoharis was elected MP for the first time in the Greek parliament in January 2015. He is an MP for the Athens B3 South Constituency with New Democracy party.Mr Theoharis has submitted a significant number of parliamentary questions on economic and financial policy and public administration issues.He served as a secretary-general for information systems (2011-12) and as a secretary-general for public revenues (2013-14), when he reorganised the agency and succeeded in meeting budget revenues and producing a fiscal surplus. He launched www.publicrevenue.gr as a platform to set clear objectives, increase transparency and civic control over public administration.Mr Theoharis holds a MEng (Hon) in software engineering-first class from Imperial College, London and prior to his state tenures he has worked for over a decade as senior business consultant in the private sector in Greece and abroad.He was born in Athens in 1970.Peter Vlitas
Executive senior vice-president of supplier relations, Internova Travel Group
Peter Vlitas serves as the executive senior vice-president of supplier relations for Internova Travel Group. As a member of Internova’s leadership team, Mr Vlitas focuses his area of expertise to provide benefits to all business divisions within Internova, managing the relationships with airlines to maximize the marketing and sales of their products to the organization’s more than 52,000 travel advisors. Mr Vlitas is based in New York City.
Before assuming his current role, Mr Vlitas served as senior vice-president of airline sales & marketing of Internova Travel Group’s Protravel International division for over 17 years. Throughout this tenure with Internova Travel Group, he was responsible for managing the many aspects of its airline programs, including industry relationships, airline contract negotiations and corporate travel. While advisers relied on his depth of knowledge, advice and counsel to ensure that their clients were receiving the same excellent service in the air as they do on the ground, he also oversaw the team responsible for revenue management, rates, costs containment and adherence to contractual parameters. Overall, Mr Vlitas has held various positions within the travel industry over the past 35 years, starting as a travel adviser at age 18 while studying Engineering attending Brooklyn Polytechnic University.
Today, Mr Vlitas sits on several airline advisory boards, IATA’S GTEC and ARC TEC boards, Government Tourism boards and is involved with numerous philanthropic activities within the Hellenic-American community.
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4:40 PM EEST
Discussion
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4:55 PM EEST
TECH-CELERATION AND INNOVATION DURING AND AFTER THE PANDEMIC
• Moving towards a data-driven value-based healthcare system • How can 5G help Greece’s catch-up effort? • Digital transformation through cloud • Technology as a driver for Investments focusing on ESG (Environmental Social Governance) • Harnessing AI to solve real-world problems in payments and beyond
Kyriakos Pierrakakis
Minister, Ministry of Digital Governance, Greece
Kyriakos Pierrakakis is the minister of digital governance in the cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis. He is a Greek computer and political scientist and politician.
In 2007 he earned a master in public policy from John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and in 2009 he earned a Master of Science in Technology and Policy from MIT. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Athens University of Economics and Business.
He served as director of research at diaNEOsis, an independent non-profit think tank. He produced an array of research papers with a strong focus on economic growth and understanding the prevailing perceptions and beliefs among Greeks.
He has also worked on technology policy for various research institutes in Greece and abroad and headed Youth Foundation as president.
Leonidas Christopoulos
Secretary-general of digital governance and simplification of procedures, Greece
Leonidas Christopoulos
Secretary-general of digital governance and simplification of procedures, Greece
Mr Leonidas Christopoulos is the secretary-general of digital governance and simplification of procedures at the Ministry of Digital Governance. Mr Christopoulos has worked as an advisor to several ministers as well as to the president of the governing party on the field of public administration reform.
He has coordinated significant public administration reform projects in Greece such as the reorganization of the Greek Central Administration (2014), the reduction of administrative burdens in several policy areas (2014), the public financial management agenda (2012-14) and the new law on the Executive State (2019).
Mr Christopoulos is a civil servant at the Ministry of Finance and a graduate of the National School of Public Administration.
He holds a degree on Political Science and International Relations from Panteion University and an MA in International Political Economy from Warwick University. He speaks English & German.Georgios Lakkotrypis
Former minister of energy, commerce and industry, Cyprus
Georgios Lakkotrypis was born on May 30th, 1970 in Nicosia. He earned his BSc in Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Keele, UK (1988-91) and his MBA at the University of Colorado, USA, on a Fulbright scholarship (1993-95).
Between 1991 and 1993, he worked for J&P Overseas as IT systems administrator at the company’s branch in Benghazi, Libya. In 1996, after completing his MBA, he joined IBM Cyprus where for the next 6 years he worked in sales.
In 2002 he was the first employee hired by Microsoft in Cyprus, entrusted with developing the company’s operations in the country. In 2008 he was appointed managing director for Microsoft Cyprus and Malta, while in November 2011 he was promoted to public sector director for Microsoft Central & Eastern Europe, with the mandate of developing the company’s business in 24 countries.
During this period, he also served as non-executive director on the boards of the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (2007-11) and of the Natural Gas Public Company (2009-13).
In March, 2013, Mr Lakkotrypis was appointed by the newly elected president Nicos Anastassiades as minister of energy, commerce, industry and tourism of the Republic of Cyprus, a position he held following the president’s re-election in March 2018. He concluded his term in office in July 2020.
Currently, through his private firm, Mr Lakkotrypis is providing advisory services in areas such as digital transformation and energy transition. He also sits on the board of various organizations as non-executive director.
Ezat Azem
General manager, Roche Hellas
Ezat Azem has been the general manager of Roche Hellas since May 2019. Ezat has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry.
His career in Roche began at the Roche Israel affiliate, where he held roles with increasing responsibility and impact, including marketing director and business unit director. In 2015 he transitioned to Roche Romania, where he served as commercial & strategic director, and in 2017 he took over the role of general manager of Roche Slovenia.
Ezat holds academic degrees from the Hebrew University - Hadassa Medical School (Israel), and Recanniti Business School in Tel Aviv University (Israel). He has also attended special education programs at INSEAD Business School (France), and at London Business School (UK).
Sudhir Jha
Head of Brighterion, senior vice-president, Mastercard (via connection)
Sudhir Jha is Mastercard SVP and head of Brighterion.
Previously, he was SVP at Infosys Limited, where he led their AI Platform and Solutions business, managing product, engineering and services functions. Sudhir spent more than nine years at Google as product head of policy enforcement for Google’s Personalized Ads products. He also led financial fraud management across all Google products, establishing industry benchmarks for loss prevention while minimizing good customer impact.
Sudhir holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from IIT Kanpur, a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Rochester and an MBA from Santa Clara University.
Cameron Brooks
General manager, Europe Public Sector, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Cameron Brooks has been general manager, Europe Public Sector at Amazon Web Services (AWS) since 2017. Based in London, Dr Brooks is responsible for leading the Europe Public Sector team and growing the business with government, education, and non-profit organizations throughout Europe. In his role, he advises public sector clients in the field of digital transformation, based on his extensive experience in the utilization of emerging and disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing and data analytics for government and healthcare applications.
Dr Brooks previously worked at IBM Watson Group (2004-17), where he held several key roles. As public sector director for Europe, he spearheaded the field of artificial intelligence for government across the region. He has also been director of IBM’s government, healthcare and education business for the Middle East & Africa region, global public sector director for government healthcare, leader of advanced water management for smarter cities and programme director for the Blue Gene Supercomputer.
Cameron Brooks holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, an MBA in Finance & Management from the New York University, and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan.
Stefanos Dianellos
Vice-president & head of corporate affairs, British American Tobacco Hellas
Stefanos Dianellos has the responsibility of corporate affairs for British American Tobacco for Greece, Cyprus, Malta and Israel.
With an academic and professional background in politics, communication and mass media, he has undertaken senior roles of responsibility in Greece and abroad in the area of corporate affairs and communication for multinational and Greek companies and, also, mass media.
He has led the strategy and management of important projects in all aspects of corporate affairs.
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5:30 PM EEST
Discussion
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6:00 PM EEST
GREECE’ S INVESTMENT AGENDA: PRESS RESTART
- Assessing the current situation
- Is there optimism for new investments?
- Investment policy tools – funding investment
- Privatization schemes in the energy sector
- Gender inequality in investments
Nikos Papathanasis
Alternate minister of development & investments, Greece
Nikos Papathanasis is a Mechanical Engineer and member of the Technical Chamber of Greece. He received his B.A.Sc. from the University of Toronto and he continued his education by receiving two post-graduate degrees, Master in Management and Aerospace Engineering.
He commenced work in 1984 at the De Havilland Aircraft Company (now Bombardier Aerospace) in Toronto. He served as a member of the board of the Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI) and as a member of the board and executive vice president of the Olympic Aviation. He worked for twenty four years as a senior and C level executive at private and public companies in Greece and abroad.
His work experience includes the management of State interest companies as in public transportation companies, namely, CEO of ISAP S.A. (Urban Rail) and President and CEO of Urban Rail Transport S.A. From 2008 to 2010 he was President - elect of the National section of the European Center of Employers and Enterprises (CEEP).
Throughout his thirty five years work experience, he has demonstrated his ability in developing business action reform plans, maturing investments, restructuring and streamlining of companies that led to a significant improvement of their balance sheets.
In July 2019 he was appointed by Prime Minister, K. Mitsotakis, as Deputy Minister of Development and Investments responsible for Industry, Commerce and Consumer Protection. In August 2020 he was appointed as Alternate Minister of Development and Investments responsible for Private Investments and PPPs.
Ioannis Smyrlis
Secretary-general for international economic relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Greece
Ioannis Smyrlis
Secretary-general for international economic relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Greece
Ioannis Smyrlis is a political scientist, graduate of the department of political sciences and public administration with a postgraduate diploma in international and European relations from the University of Athens (EKPA).
He represented the Ministry of Interior during the rotating Greek Presidency of the EU in 2013-14. He was press and public relations consultant of ODIE SA. in 2009-10, adviser to the general secretary of the Ministry of Shipping in 2007-09 and adviser to the general secretary of S.E.P.E. in 2005-07. He was elected as the 1st president from Greece of the Youth Organization of the European People's Party (YEPP) 2007-09, the largest political youth organization in Europe. He served as secretary of international and EU Relations of Nea Demokratia party and a member of the political bureau of the European People's Party (EPP) in 2013-19. During that time, he cultivated personal relationships with major stakeholders in Brussels and other European capitals. He was a European fellow of the German Marshall Foundation of the USA and a member of the EU Youth Assembly for the European Constitution (2003), the Hellenic Society of Political Science (E.E.P.E.) and the Hellenic Society of International Law and International Relations of the Aegean Institute for the Law of the Sea and Navigation.
He has been a freelancer since 2009 in activities related to catering, trade and import-export. He speaks English and French.
Christian Kälin
Chairman, Henley & Partners
Dr. Christian H. Kälin, TEP, IMCM is considered one of the world’s foremost experts in investment migration and citizenship-by-investment, a field he pioneered. Holding master’s and PhD degrees in law from the University of Zurich, he is a sought-after speaker and advises governments and international organizations. He is the author, co-author, or editor of many publications, including standard works such as the Global Residence and Citizenship Handbook, and the Switzerland Business & Investment Handbook. His academic background and personal interests have motivated him to become increasingly involved with the global issue of forced displacement and, in particular, with the global refugee crisis. Since 2014, and through a partnership with the UNHCR, Dr. Kälin has made a significant contribution to the refugee cause — and in 2017 he established the Andan Foundation in order to amplify the impact of his personal commitment to support refugees.
George Burns
President and chief executive officer, Eldorado Gold Corporation (via connection)
George Burns was appointed president and chief executive officer of Eldorado Gold Corporation in April 2017. Prior to joining Eldorado, Mr Burns was executive vice-president and chief operating officer at Goldcorp from 2012 to 2017. He also held the Goldcorp positions of senior vice-president, Mexican Operations and vice-president, Canada and United States respectively. Prior to that he was senior vice-president & chief operating officer of Centerra Gold Inc.
Mr Burns has over 30 years of experience in the mineral sector including executive, operations, development and engineering leadership roles in gold, copper and coal operations. Mr Burns has served in various capacities for Asarco LLC including vice-president of mining as well as numerous capacities for Cyprus Minerals Corporation. He began his career with Anaconda Company in 1978.
Mr Burns holds a bachelor of science degree in Mining Engineering from the Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology. He is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors.
Paolo Gallo
Chief executive officer and general manager, Italgas, Italy
Paolo Gallo has been chief executive officer and general manager at Italgas since August 4th 2016. He received his degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin. He subsequently earned an MBA from Turin University.
From 2014 to 2016 he was the chief executive officer of Grandi Stazioni S.p.A, of which he oversaw the privatization. Previously (from 2011 to 2014) he worked at Acea S.p.A., firstly as chief operating officer and then as chief executive officer. From 2002 to 2011 he was in the Edison Group, initially as head of strategy and innovation, then as chief operating officer and chief executive officer of Edipower.
He started his career in Fiat Avio S.p.A. in 1988, holding several roles and responsibilities over 13 years. In 1997 he began working in the energy field, developing new initiatives in Italy, India and Brazil and subsequently he recollected all Fiat Group’s electricity generation activities in Fiat Energia, of which he was chief executive officer until 2002.
Between 1992 and 1993 he was dean of the MBA programme at the School of Business Administration of the University of Turin, where he lectured “Industrial Investments Economical-Financial evaluations” until 2002. He is also co-author of relevant publications in the sector. Since 2018 he has been professor of Re-engineering Operational Processes (Master Digital Ecosystem) and Energy Management (Master Energy Industry) courses at the Luiss Business School.
Celeste Cecilia Lo Turco
Director, NEOM
Dr Celeste Lo Turco is a sovereign wealth funds and sustainability expert. Dr Celeste Lo Turco worked for the SWFs strategic committee of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the SWFs Law Centre. She was the adviser for the Italian Municipalities National Association on the development of the national economy through the relationship with SWFs.
Former United Nations analyst with a specialization in Security and Middle-East Political Affairs, she worked within the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI). The Middle East has been her house for more than nine years. Previously based in the United Arab Emirates as vice-president strategy for future holding, a Lebanese family office based in Dubai, she now lives in Saudi Arabia where she works as a director at NEOM.
A Georgetown University Fulbright visiting researcher, she holds a PhD in Political Theory and a master’s degree in International Relations, Markets and Institutions of the Global System. She is an active writer about SWFs, sustainability, and global economics.
Nikos Rogakos
Journalist
Nikos Rogakos has worked at ANT1 TV from 2000 until today. He is head of the economy and finance desk at ANT1 News division.
Shows: Anchor of the weekend news programme “Morning Press”. He is a financial editor at the “Vradyni tis Kyriakis” newspaper and contributes articles to the financial site Powergame.gr.Nikos Rogakos has worked for ANT1 Radio as a financial editor & radio producer, at Real FM as a producer for a daily political talk-show and as staff journalist for the “Eleftherotypia” newspaper.
Studies: Department of Media and Culture, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences (B.A.)
European Economics and Analysis ( MBA at NYU)
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6:30 PM EEST
Discussion
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7:00 PM EEST
End of first day’s conference sessions
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8:00 PM EEST
Arrival of guests – Welcome drinks
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9:00 PM EEST
OPENING GALA DINNER
LEARNING FROM THE GREEK REVOLUTION BICENTENNIAL: WHAT SHOULD THE COUNTRY REVOLUTIONISE IN 2021?Kyriakos Mitsotakis
Prime minister, Greece
Kyriakos Mitsotakis was sworn in as prime minister of the Hellenic Republic on July 8th, 2019.
President of Nea Demokratia since January 2016, managed to modernize his party, renew and boost its membership base, create a system of funding based on small annual donations by the members and put in place a code of transparency and accountability in the operations of the party.He led his party to a landslide victory three years later, campaigning on a platform for jobs, strong growth and lower taxes. Nea Demokratia was the first party to win an absolute majority in the Greek Parliament since 2009.
As minister of administrative reform and e-Goverment from June 2013 until January 2015, he spearheaded comprehensive national reforms by implementing a functional reorganization of institutions, structures and processes.A member of the Parliament since 2004, Kyriakos Mitsotakis has participated in the Committee for Constitutional Amendment, the Committee for Trade and the Committee for National Defence. He was also an active member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
As chairman of the environment Committee between 2007-2009, he passionately pursued issues pertaining to climate change and advocated for the need for environmentally sustainable growth. Since then, he was the shadow-minister for the environment and climate change for Nea Demokratia until 2012.Before entering politics, he worked for ten years in the private sector as a financial analyst with Chase Investment Bank, a consultant with McKinsey and Company and finally as CEO of NBG Venture Capital at the National Bank of Greece.
He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Social Studies, summa cum laude, from Harvard University, and earned an MA in International Relations from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.Kyriakos Mitsotakis is married to Mareva Grabowski and they have three children, Sofia, Constantinos and Dafni.
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8:30 AM EEST
Arrival of delegates - registration
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9:00 AM EEST
Opening remarks
SOUTHEAST EUROPE: ENHANCING CO-OPERATION AND SOLIDARITY- EU enlargement: One step closer?
- Enhancing trade and investment in times of turmoil
- Initiatives for peace and better understanding
Edi Rama
Prime minister, Albania (via connection)
Edi Rama was born in Tirana, on July 4, 1964. He is married to Linda Rama and they have three children, Greg, Rea and Zaho. With a remarkably rich and diverse career path, Edi Rama counts his contribution in arts, sports and teaching, as a publicist and politician. He used to be a professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts, a player of the national basketball team, and authored two books, namely, Refleksione (Reflections), together with Ardian Klosi, which was published immediately after the collapse of the dictatorship and Kurban, published in 2011. Additionally, Edi Rama has published two art books containing his works in collaboration with the distinguished artist Anri Sala.
Edi Rama’s involvement in the public and political life of the country starts with the movement for democracy that led to the dismantling of the communist regime in Albania, with Rama being one of the most publicly outspoken members and a key leader of the students’ movement at the Academy of Fine Arts. Following a hiatus of several years in which he left Albania to dedicate to the artistic life, although he remained a staunch critic in the press of the first post-communist government, Edi Rama entered politics in the capacity of the minister of culture, youth and sports, in 1998. During all his tenure he won the support and wide appreciation of the Albanian public opinion for his creative and efficient ways of promoting art and culture in Albania.
In 2000, Edi Rama ran for mayor of Tirana Municipality, with the support of the Socialist Party and marked a landslide victory against his rival. Under his leadership, Tirana Municipality turned into a modern European institution. His projects to introduce colour in public spaces, amongst the ruined facades of residential buildings of the communist era, the rehabilitation of Lana Riverbed, the increase of recreational parks and green areas in the city, as well as the reconstruction of Tirana’s road network based on entirely new standards found international recognition, counting a series of awards, amongst which, World Mayor Award (2004) and European Hero Award by Time Magazine. Edi Rama was re-elected as mayor of Tirana in 2003 and 2007 and led the Albanian capital for 11 years.
In 2005, Edi Rama was elected chair of the Socialist Party of Albania, leading this force through the difficult opposition years and into the overwhelming victory of 23 June 2013.
Zoran Zaev
Former prime minister, North Macedonia
Zoran Zaev is former prime minister of the Republic of North Macedonia, serving at the position from June 2017 till January 2020 and from August 2020 till January 2022. In July 2018, at the NATO Summit in Brussels, Zoran Zaev received the invitation for the start of the accession negotiations of the Republic of North Macedonia for NATO membership and on March 27th 2020 North Macedonia became part of NATO. Since becoming prime minister, Zoran Zaev has signed the Agreement for Strategic Partnership, Friendship and Good-Neighbourliness with Bulgaria, and in June 2018, the new Government led by Zoran Zaev, signed the Prespa Agreement with Greece for the resolution of the name issue. Zaev, together with the former prime minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras, is a recipient of the Ewald Fon Kleist award, the International Peace of Westphalia for 2020, the Hessian Peace Prize 2020 and the Emerging Europe award for best practice in promoting cooperation, unity, inclusion, diversity and positive thinking. The two leaders were also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019. Zoran Zaev received the 2020 Human Rights Award of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) in Berlin.
From 2003 to 2005, he was a member of North Macedonia’s Parliament, after which he ran for Mayor of Strumica, a position he held for three consecutive terms, from 2005 to 2016. In 2008 and 2009 the city won the highest national environmental award, while as Mayor, Mr Zaev won the Best Practice Award from the Council of Europe for the first Public Private Partnership in the country. He was elected as leader of the ruling party SDSM since 2013 and led the party till December 2021, after serving as vice president between 2006 and 2013. Mr Zaev has been a member of the SDSM since 1996. Since June 2022 Zoran Zaev is one of the founders and director of “Zaev Foundation One Society For All”. He is an economist, married and father of two children.
Albin Kurti
Prime minister, Kosovo
Albin Kurti is the the president of the biggest political party in the country, Lëvizja VETËVENDOSJE! (LVV), as well as the fourth and now the sixth Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosova since the country’s declaration of independence. He was born on March 24th, 1975 in Prishtina.
Kurti joined the Presidency of the Students Independent Union of the University of Prishtina (SIUUP) in August 1997, which organized peaceful, non-violent protests for the release of the university buildings and premises which were occupied by the authorities of the Serbian regime. When war began in Kosova, in August 1998, Kurti began working as the Secretary of the Office of the General Political Representative of the Kosova Liberation Army (KLA), Adem Demaçi. When the NATO bombing of Serbia and Kosova commenced in March 1999, Kurti remained in Prishtina, and was arrested by the Serbian police on April 27th, 1999, and then imprisoned. When Serbian forces withdrew from Kosova on June 10th, Kurti and many other Albanian political prisoners were transferred to Serbian prisons. Due to international pressure, Kurti was released on December 7th, 2001. On April 23rd, 2003, Kurti graduated in Computer Science and Telecommunications from the University of Prishtina.
In June of 2005, Kurti with other activists of the Kosova Action Network, advanced their organization into Lëvizja VETËVENDOSJE!, which was later registered as a political party. He was the President of LVV until March 2015, and was re-elected as President of the party in January 2018. Between 2005-2017, he spent almost one a half years under house arrest and in prison, charged by the authorities of UNMIK, EULEX and the Republic of Kosova.
Kurti has served three terms in office as a member of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosova representing LVV. He has also served as the chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs at the Assembly. In the last three, consecutive national elections held in Kosova, in 2017, 2019 and 2021, Kurti has been the party’s candidate for prime minister. In the elections of 2017 and 2019, he and the party won the highest number of votes. Whereas, in the elections held on February 14th, 2021, LVV’s list won a total of 50.28% of the popular vote, which is the best result any party has achieved since the end of the war in Kosova.
Albin Kurti has published over 550 articles, and has been invited to present at different renowned universities inside and outside the country. He is fluent in Albanian, English, and Serbian.
He is married to Rita Augestad Knudsen, and they have one daughter, Lea.
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović
Former president, Croatia
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović is the 4th and 1st female President of Croatia (2015-2020) with broad national and international experience in politics, diplomacy and security studies. She was elected a Member of the Croatian Parliament (2003), and served as Croatia’s first female Minister of Foreign Affairs (2003-2008) and Ambassador to the United States, Mexico, Panama and OAS (2008-2011), as well as the first female Assistant Secretary General and member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Senior Leadership (2011-2014).
She was elected an independent member of the International Olympic Committee in 2020, and has been appointed Chair of the Future Hosts Commission for the Games of the Olympiad. Currently she is a Special Advisor to the Dean of the Zagreb School of Economics and Management, and serves on the boards of a number of non-profit institutions, such as Friends of Europe, the US Atlantic Council, GLOBSEC, Halifax International Security Forum, the Concordia Leadership Council. She is a Member of the High-Level Advisory Council for the High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), the Global Ambassador for Immunization for Women Political Leaders (WPL), and chair emerita of the Council of Women World Leaders.
Parallel to her diplomatic and political careers, she has pursued an academic career in government, international relations and security studies at the Vienna Diplomatic Academy (1994-1995), the George Washington University (2002-2003), Harvard University (2009), the Johns Hopkins University (2011), and the University of Zagreb.
Anna Diamantopoulou
President, "DIKTIO" – Network for Reform in Greece and Europe, former European commissioner and former minister of development, Greece
Anna Diamantopoulou
President, "DIKTIO" – Network for Reform in Greece and Europe, former European commissioner and former minister of development, Greece
Anna Diamantopoulou is a Greek politician and public figure who has led a distinguished career in public service in Greece and in Europe.
Formerly Greece’s candidate for the post of OECD’s secretary-general, Ms Diamantopoulou served as the European commissioner for employment, social affairs and equal opportunities, and has held several significant portfolios as a minister in the Greek government as well. She was minister of development, competitiveness and shipping, and, prior to that, minister of education, research and technology, and lifelong learning.
She is currently the president of DIKTIO – Network for Reform in Greece and Europe, a leading independent, non-partisan, Athens-based think tank, which she founded in 2013.
Ms Diamantopoulou is actively involved in international think tanks and not-for-profit organisations. She is a member of the board of trustees of the Brussels-based think tank friends of Europe, a council member of the European Council on foreign relations (ECFR), and a member of the scientific council of the foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS). She sits on the advisory board of the Delphi Economic forum and of the Bussola Institute, a Brussels-based platform for independent research and dialogue between Gulf Countries and Europe.
Anna also sits on corporate boards, including the board of directors of Coca Cola HBC, an FTSE 100 company.Anna was Fisher Family Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, Distinguished Scholar at Singapore’s Lee Kuan School of Public Policy as well as Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow at the Robert Bosch Stiftung. She has received multiple awards and decorations, such as the French Legion of Honour. She holds MA degrees in Civil Engineering and Regional Development from the universities of Athens and Thessaloniki.
George Katrougkalos
Former minister of foreign affairs, Greece
George Katrougalos is professor of Public Law, former minister of foreign affairs of Greece (2019). He is currently member of the Greek Parliament, shadow minister of foreign affairs of SYRIZA party. He is also president of the Group of Unified Left at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and president of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and the Arab World. He has served as member of the European Parliament (2014-2015), state minister for European Affairs (2016-2018), minister of labour and social solidarity (2015-2016) and state minister for administrative reforms of Greece (2015). Over the years of the Greek crisis, he has been writing critically on the legal issues of debt, austerity and their impact on human rights and the social state and he has been a founding member of the Initiative for a Public Audit Control of Greek Public Debt.He has lectured as visiting professor or invited speaker, among others, at the Universities of Oxford, NYU, Columbia, Humboldt, London School of Economics, Roskilde, Dublin College University, Tilburg, UNAM, New Delhi Law School. He has worked as international expert on human rights and institutional building in Albania, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Syria and North Macedonia and as legal advisor to the Greek Mission at the United Nations on Human Rights issues. He is member of the executive committee of the International Association of Constitutional Law and the Association of Greek Constitutionalists, former member of the board of KETHEA (Therapy Center for Dependent Individuals) and UNICEF Greece. He has published extensively in Greek, American, European and Asian legal reviews.
Reince Priebus
Former RNC chairman and former White House chief of staff
Reince currently serves as the president of Michael Best & Friedrich LLP. Prior to joining Michael Best, Reince was named White House chief of staff shortly after the 2016 Presidential campaign.
Prior to managing the White House staff, Reince served as the longest-serving chairman of the Republican National Committee in modern history. He oversaw a dramatic turnaround of the RNC, rescuing its finances, repairing its operations, and rebuilding its ground game while raising over one billion dollars. By welcoming new voters and harnessing the power of new technologies, Reince built the infrastructure needed for landslide GOP victories, and he left the RNC as the winningest chairmen of either political party in American history. He was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in both 2016 and 2017.
Before serving as RNC chairman, Reince was one of the most successful chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin creating the framework for one of the most historic election cycles Wisconsin has ever experienced. During his tenure, the state’s Republicans elected Ron Johnson to the U.S. Senate, elected Scott Walker as governor, gained two additional U.S. House seats, and took back both the State Assembly and State Senate, while also defeating the democratic leaders of both of those chambers.
Reince previously served as a visiting fellow at Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School and is currently an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve.
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9:50 AM EEST
Discussion
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10:15 AM EEST
EFFECTIVE DIPLOMACY IN UNSTABLE TIMES
- Tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean: Is there ground for cautious optimism at last?
- What are the expectations for the region in the aftermath of the US elections?
- Assessing future relations with Turkey
Nikos Dendias
Minister of foreign affairs, Greece
Nikos Dendias was born in Corfu.
He is a graduate of the Athens College and of the Athens University Law School (with honors). He holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of London, specializing in Maritime and Insurance Law (University College - UCL) and Criminology (London School of Economics - LSE).
He is a Supreme Court lawyer.
He has been politically active with Nea Dimokratia (New Democracy) since 1978. He was a member of DAP/NDFK, of ONNED Student Secretariat and of the editorial board of the ONNED Journal "Democratic Lead" from 1979 to 1981.
From March 2004-2015 he was MP for Corfu with Nea Dimokratia.In January 2015 he was elected as MP for Athens 2nd District, first in votes among his fellow candidates on N.D. ballot.
He has served as minister of National Defense from November 2014 until January 2015, as minister of Development and Competitiveness from June 2014 until November 2014, as minister of Public Order and Citizen Protection from June 2012 until June 2014.
From January 2009 to the national elections of October 4, 2009, he was minister of Justice. In December 2010 he was appointed parliamentary spokesperson of Nea Dimokratia.
He has served on numerous Parliamentary Committees.
Has been elected as chairman of the Migration Committee of the Council of Europe in 2013 and vice president in 2012, being a member of the Committee since 2004.
Chairman of the Corfu branch of the Greek Anti-Cancer Society in 2008-2009.
He is married to Dafni Lala and has three children.
Averof Neofytou
President, The Democratic Rally Party (DISY), Cyprus
Averof Neofytou was born in Argaka, in the district of Paphos, on 31/7/1961. He studied economics and accountancy at N.Y.I.T. University, in Long Island, New York.In 1991 was elected as mayor of Polis Chrysochou, a post which he held until 1996 when he was elected DISY MP. On May 2006, May 2011, May 2016 and May 2021 he was re-elected as member of the House of Representatives.He was appointed minister of communications and works in August 1999 and served until February 2003.In May 2003 was elected deputy president of the Democratic Rally. On May 2013 he was elected as president of the party, following the election of Mr Nicos Anastasiades to the presidency of the republic. He was re-elected as president of the party for a second term in May 2018. The Democratic Rally is the ruling party in Cyprus since 2013.He served as chairman of the House Standing Committee on foreign and European affairs between 2011 until 2016 and as chairman of the House Standing Committee on financial and budgetary affairs from 2016 to 2018. He is currently a member of the Committee of Selection.He has served as leader of the delegation of the House to the Conference of foreign affairs committees chairs of parliaments of EU member States, to the conference of community and European affairs committees of parliaments of the European Union and Head of the delegation of the House to the Interparliamentary Conference on Stability, economic coordination and governance in the European Union. He is also the leader of the Cypriot delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union and a member of the Euro-Mediterranean parliamentary assembly.He is married to Maria Selipa and has one son, Pericles.David Harris
Senior strategic adviser, The Henry Jackson Society, London, fmr chief executive officer, American Jewish Committee (via connection)
David Harris
Senior strategic adviser, The Henry Jackson Society, London, fmr chief executive officer, American Jewish Committee (via connection)
David Harris, currently senior strategic adviser at the London-based Henry Jackson Society, a transatlantic policy think tank, led American Jewish Committee (AJC), described by the New York Times as the “dean of American Jewish organizations,” from 1990 to 2022. He was referred to by the late Israeli president Shimon Peres as the “foreign minister of the Jewish people”.
Harris has been honored nesrly 25 times by foreign governments, including Greece and Cyprus, for his international work, making him the most decorated American Jewish organizational leader in U.S. history. He is also the recipient of four honorary doctorates, including from Brandeis University and University of Piraeus. He has written hundreds of articles in leading media outlets. Educated at the University of Pennsylvania and London School of Economics, he was a visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins University and Oxford University.
David Harris had led American Jewish Committee (AJC), described by the New York Times as the “dean of American Jewish organizations,” since 1990. He was referred to by the late Israeli president Shimon Peres as the “foreign minister of the Jewish people”.
Harris has been honored more than 20 times by foreign governments for his international work, making him the most decorated American Jewish organizational leader in U.S. history. He has written hundreds of articles in leading media outlets. Educated at the University of Pennsylvania and London School of Economics, he has been a visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins University and Oxford University.
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10:35 AM EEST
Discussion
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11:00 AM EEST
RUSSIA’S-PLACE IN A POST COVID-19 WORLD
The Economist in dialogue with:Vladimir Chizhov
Permanent representative of Russia to the European Union (via connection)
Vladimir Chizhov was born on December 3rd 1953. He graduated with honours from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO - University) and joined the diplomatic service in 1976.
Embassy in Athens, Greece (1976), 5th European department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1981), Embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus (1985), counsellor, 2nd European department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1992), head of UK/Ireland division, 2nd European department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1992), deputy director, 2nd European department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1993), deputy head, Russian delegation to the OSCE, Vienna, Austria (1995), deputy High Representative for Bosnia Peace Implementation, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (1996), director, 3rd European department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
1997-2000: Russian Special Representative for Cyprus (1997 ), director, European cooperation department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1999), Russian special representative for the Balkans (2000-02), deputy minister of foreign affairs (2002), permanent representative of the Russian Federation to the European Communities, Brussels, Belgium (2005)Since 2010 he has been permanent representative of the Russian Federation to the European Union, Brussels, Belgium.
Conducted analytical research work on European security, OSCE, Russia-EU and Russia-NATO relations, Mediterranean, Balkans, problems of Cyprus and Northern Ireland, UN peacekeeping operations.
Diplomatic Rank: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (2000)
Decorated with state awards
Languages: English, Greek, French
Marital status: married, two children
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11:10 AM EEST
Discussion
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11:15 AM EEST
Break
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11:50 AM EEST
SECURITY CHALLENGES IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN
- Geopolitical friction in the Eastern Mediterranean and energy security
- Walking on a tightrope
Nikos Panagiotopoulos
Minister of national defence, Greece
Born in 1965 in Kavala. Graduated with Honors from Athens College in 1984. Studied economics and international relations at the University of Pennsylvania (1984-88) and law at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (1988- 92). Attended courses at the Université de Technologie de Compiègne in France, working on his dissertation on the economics of the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU (summer 1988).
Mandatory military service in the Hellenic Air Force (1990-92). Employed in the private sector as international marketing director at “Marmara Kavalas SA” (marble quarrying, manufacturing and exporting company in Kavala, Northern Greece) (1992-99). Practiced criminal law in Kavala (1999-2007). Elected as a member of the Hellenic Parliament with “N.D.” in the district of Kavala at 2007, 2009, May 2012, June 2012, January 2015, September 2015 and July 2019. Member of the parliamentary committees of commerce (2007-09), Greek Diaspora (2007-12), defense and foreign affairs (2009-12 and 2013-15), social affairs (2015-17), justice, public order and public administration (2017-present). Deputy minister of labour, social security and social solidarity (2012-13). Appointed “N.D.” party coordinator/shadow minister for defense (2012), social affairs (2015-16) and justice (2016-present). Appointed “N.D.” member of the special parliamentary committees investigating the affair of the Hellenic Navy submarines purchase (2011) and the “Novartis” pharmaceuticals investigation of the involvement of government officials (2018). Appointed “N.D.” member of the parliamentary committee for the revision of the constitution (Jan-Apr 2018).
Speaks fluently English and French, working knowledge of Italian and Spanish. Married to Anastasia Angelidou. An avid sportsman, represented Greece with the Junior National Water Polo Team in 1981-1982. Enjoys reading, basketball, skiing and swimming in his spare time.
Charalambos Petrides
Minister of defence, Cyprus
Charalambos Petrides was born in Nicosia on the 19th of October 1974. On the 29th of June 2020 he was appointed as minister of defence by the president of the Republic of Cyprus. He is a certified property valuer and real - estate consultant from the Estate Agents Registration Board, a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). He has served as the CEO of the Company Landtourist Group.
He has served as the mayor of the Municipality of Aglantzia, Nicosia from 2016 to 2020, where he supervised the implementation of major road networks, economic consolidation and the reform of the Municipality’s social services. From 2013 to 2016 he served as the president of the Cyprus Land Development Corporation. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Property Valuers Association from 2004 to 2013 and was elected as chairman of the Association from 2009 to 2013. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) from 2012 to 2014, as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI Cyprus) from 2012 to 2014 and as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Organization Urban Land Institute in Cyprus from 2010 to 2011.
In 1998 he graduated from the Oxford Brookes University in the UK with a First Class Honours Degree (BSc Hons) in Estate Management. He completed his studies with a Masters in Land Economics and Finance (MPhil) at the Wolfson College of Cambridge University with a scholarship.
He undertook his military service from 1993 to 1995 in the Air Force.
He is married to Xanthi Tzovani Petrides and has two children.
Shlomo Ben Ami
Former foreign affairs minister, Israel, vice-president, Toledo International Centre for Peace (TICpax)
Shlomo Ben Ami
Former foreign affairs minister, Israel, vice-president, Toledo International Centre for Peace (TICpax)
Shlomo Ben Ami was educated at Tel Aviv University and Oxford University where he received his D.Phil. He headed the Graduate School of History, and is the author of studies in Spanish history and fascism. He also held visiting fellowships at St.Antony’s College in Oxford and The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, in Washington. In 2016, he was the George MacGovern professor of international and public affairs at the University of Columbia, New York.
In 1987-91 he served as Israel’s ambassador in Spain. He later headed the Israeli delegation at the Multilateral Talks on Refugees in the Middle East. In 1999, he became minister of public security, and in 2000 foreign minister. As such he led the peace talks with the Palestinians throughout the last two years of the Clinton administration.
His publications include Scars of War, Wounds of Peace. The Arab-Israeli Tragedy, Oxford University Press 2006.
He served as a member of the international board of The International Crisis Group; and is a special adviser to the United States Middle East Project. He has also served as an adviser to Colombia’s government on the peace process with the FARC guerrilla.
Mr Ben Ami is a regular contributor to Project Syndicate on strategic and global affairs.
Geoffrey Pyatt
US ambassador to the Hellenic Republic
Geoffrey R. Pyatt, a career member of the Foreign Service, class of career minister, was sworn in as the US ambassador to the Hellenic Republic in September 2016.
He served as US ambassador to Ukraine from 2013-16, receiving the State Department’s Robert Frasure Memorial Award in recognition of his commitment to peace and alleviation of human suffering in eastern Ukraine.
Previously, ambassador Pyatt was principal deputy assistant secretary of state in the bureau of south and central Asian affairs from 2010-13. He was deputy chief of mission at the US mission to the international organisations in Vienna, Austria from 2007 to 2010. He also served at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India as Deputy Chief of Mission from 2006 to 2007 and as Political Counselor from 2002 to 2006. Ambassador Pyatt served as Economic Officer at the US Consulate General in Hong Kong from 1999 to 2002 and as principal officer at the US Consulate General in Lahore, Pakistan from 1997 to 1999. Since joining the foreign service in 1989, he has also served on the National Security Council staff, on the staff of deputy secretary Strobe Talbott and at posts in Honduras and India.
Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he worked with The Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank that brings together leading citizens of the Americas.
Ambassador Pyatt grew up in La Jolla, California and holds a master’s degree in international relations from Yale and B.A. in political science from the University of California, Irvine.
Markos Kounalakis
American syndicated columnist, journalist , author, Second Gentleman of California
Markos Kounalakis
American syndicated columnist, journalist , author, Second Gentleman of California
Markos Kounalakis, Ph.D. is an author, journalist, and international relations scholar.
Dr Kounalakis is both a visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and a Central European University senior fellow at the Center for Media, Data and Society. His globally syndicated foreign affairs column appeared weekly in the Miami Herald and McClatchy. He recently served as president Barack Obama’s appointee to the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.Dr Kounalakis lives in San Francisco with his wife, California’s Lt. Governor, Ambassador Eleni Kounalakis.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Dr Kounalakis worked as a foreign correspondent, covering wars and revolutions for Newsweek and as the NBC-Mutual News Moscow correspondent. He reported on the fall of the Berlin Wall and lived in the Soviet Union during its collapse. His assignments included the overthrow of communism in East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. He covered the Soviet war in Afghanistan and the outbreak of ethnic strife and war in Yugoslavia. He was based in Rome, Vienna and ran Newsweek’s Prague bureau.
Dr Kounalakis became president and publisher of the Washington Monthly magazine and chairman of the Internews Network. He is the author of the recently published “Freedom isn’t Free: The Price of World Order” (Anthem Press, 2022)
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12:10 PM EEST
Discussion
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12:30 PM EEST
ENERGY PARTNERSHIPS IN SE EUROPE & THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN
- The transition towards a decarbonized sustainable energy system
- The environmental footprint of LNG and pipeline gas processing and transportation
- Building new alliances – strengthening existing ones
- An update on energy exploration in the region
Tarek El-Molla
Minister of petroleum and mineral resources, Egypt
H.E. Tarek El Molla was appointed as the Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources on 19th September 2015.
H.E. Minister El Molla has over 30 years of experience in the oil & gas industry. He started his career at Chevron Egypt back in 1987, where he held various positions in Engineering, Operations, Planning, Sales and Marketing departments. During the period from 2002 till 2008, he got several Chevron assignments and managed projects in Dubai, Kenya and Singapore. In 2008 he became managing director–marketing of Chevron Egypt. He then became regional manager in charge of South & Central Africa’s commercial & industrial business in 2010.
He returned to Egypt in 2011, where he joined the Egyptian General Petroleum Cooperation (EGPC) and progressed further till August 2013, when he was appointed as EGPC CEO.H.E. Minister El Molla over his career was celebrated internationally and awarded various times for his achievements. Most importantly, the French president awarded him the “Ordre National de la Legion D’Honneur” at the rank of Knight in 2017. Also, in 2020 the president of the Hellenic Republic awarded him the “Grand Commander of the Order of Phoenix”.
H.E. Minister El Molla holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cairo University.
Konstantinos Skrekas
Minister of environment and energy, Greece
Konstantinos Skrekas comes from Megarhi, Trikala. He is married to Eirini Karagouni and has two daughters, Alexandra and Sophia. He holds a degree in civil engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Civil Engineering department, Faculty of Technology), and an M.Sc. in construction management from the University of Birmingham, UK.
After completing his studies, he worked in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods sector in managerial positions. He is the co-founder of a company operating in the FMCG sector and held the posisition of CEO for 15 years. In the general election of May 6th 2012 he was elected Member of the Greek Parliament (MP) for the Constituency of Trikala with the New Democracy Party. He was re-elected on 17th June of the same year. On the 25th of January 2015 he was elected Member of the Greek Parliament (MP), receiving the largest number of electoral votes among candidates from all political parties, in the Constituency of Trikala. He was re-elected in the elections on 20th September of the same year. In the general elections on 7th July 2019 he was elected member of the Greek Parliament for the Constituency of Trikala.
During his terms of office in the Hellenic Parliament he has been a member of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs, the Standing Committee on Production and Trade, the Special Permanent Committee on Research and Technology and the Special Permanent Committee on Environmental Protection. He was also shadow minister for the environment and energy sector for the New Democracy Party from January 2016 – June 2019. He was appointed minister of development and competitiveness from October 2014 until February 2015. On July 9th 2019 he was appointed deputy minister of rural development and food, being specifically responsible for the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). On 5th January 2021 he was appointed minister of the environment and energy. Konstantinos Skrekas speaks English and French.
Natasa Pilides
Minister of energy, commerce and industry, Cyprus
Natasa Pilides was appointed minister of energy, commerce and industry on July 10th 2020.
She had previously served, since March 1st 2018, as the first shipping deputy minister of the Republic of Cyprus, being in charge of the strategic development and promotion of Cyprus as a world class, integrated, maritime cluster.
From April 2016 until her appointment as shipping deputy minister, Ms Pilides served as director-general of the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA), having the responsibility for the design and implementation of CIPA’s strategy in investment promotion, investor support and facilitation of reform, in close collaboration with the Cyprus Government.
Her work experience spans more than fifteen years in the private sector and includes serving as director and regional chief operating officer at Baker Tilly in South East Europe, heading the departments of Finance, Marketing, HR, Administration, Operations and IT, for Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova.
She also worked, for 9 years, at PwC in Cyprus, Milan and London, in the areas of audit and tax consulting, providing services to multinational companies active in the fields of banking and finance, shipping, insurance, energy, construction and FMCG.
Ms Pilides has wide experience in delivering professional training and courses for ICAEW, ACCA and CIMA exams, in the areas of audit, tax, corporate law, ethics, financial accounting and reporting, at BPP London, one of the leading professional studies organisations worldwide.
She graduated from Oxford University with a first-class honours degree, with distinction, in Modern Languages and Literature (French and Italian). She is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus (ICPAC).
Pierre Vergerio
Chief executive officer, IGI Poseidon
Pierre Vergerio is a qualified engineer and graduate of the Ecole Nationale Sup rieure d’ Electrotechnique, Grenoble. He is currently chief executive officer of IGI Poseidon a joint company between DEPA (50%) and Edison (50%) which ensures the development of large gas infrastructures in the Mediterranean Region.Vergerio began his career at EDF in 1975 in Power Transmission and Delivery Networks and later in International Operations. In 1993 he moved to Lebanon to head the EDF project for the reconstruction of the country's electricity network. Returning to France, he ran the Strasbourg operating unit for four years, before being appointed managing director of EDF's Egyptian branch, building and putting into operation two 700 MW gas fueled power stations. Then he spent 4 years as CEO at Fenice Spa, an Italian EDF Group company providing eco-energy and co-generation services to large industrial customers. He worked for Edison from 2008 through 2020 as chief operating officer and then executive vice-president of Gas Midstream, Energy Management and Gas Infrastructures.Maria Rita Galli
CEO, DESFA
Maria Rita Galli is the CEO of DESFA. Previously, she held the position of the executive vice-president Business Development & Asset Management at Snam S.p.A, a leading global energy infrastructure company and was the chairman of the SENFLUGA Energy Holdings S.A., a consortium controlling 66% of DESFA’s share capital.
Ms Galli started her career at Eni in 1997, as a graduate in nuclear engineering from the Milan Polytechnic University. At Eni, she went through various roles within the International Business Development Department, joined relevant international projects and was involved in M&A activities. As a member of Eni’s Board of Directors, she also oversaw the operations of some of the Group’s companies abroad (Galp, Distrigas, eni Gas&Power Trading BV, eni Gas&Power France, GVS GmbH, etc.)
Since 2006, she has been in charge of the International Business Development unit and, from January 2010, she has been in charge of the International Business Development and Assets Management department.
In October 2016, she joined Snam as the head of Business Development and International Asset Management.
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1:00 PM EEST
Discussion
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1:20 PM EEST
DECARBONISING EUROPE: ACCELERATING THE ENERGY TRANSITION
- The electricity market under the microscope
- Priorities for the US green agenda: a transition to a clean energy economy
John Sarbanes
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, member, House Committee on Energy and Commerce (via connection)
John Sarbanes
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, member, House Committee on Energy and Commerce (via connection)
Congressman John Sarbanes has represented Maryland’s Third Congressional District in the U.S. Congress since 2007.
He currently serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change. He serves as vice-chair of the House Subcommittee on Health. Congressman Sarbanes also serves on the House Oversight and Reform Committee and its Subcommittee on Government Operations. He chairs the Democracy Reform Task Force, which has assembled HR1, the For The People Act, to reform and strengthen our democracy.
Born and raised in Baltimore, Congressman Sarbanes has experience working in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. He and his family live in Towson, giving him the opportunity to drive home every night and hear from the people he serves in Congress. Listening to their concerns allows him to better represent Maryland and has shaped his work in the House of Representatives.
Konstantinos Xifaras
Chief executive officer, DEPA
Mr Konstantinos Xifaras is the CEO of DEPA COMMERCIAL S.A.
He is a graduate of the Department of Production Engineering and Management of the Technical University of Crete and is specialized in Operational Research.In September 2019, he was appointed CEO of DEPA at a crucial turning point, in view of the privatization process. Under his leadership, both the privatization preparatory stage and the corporate transformation in 3 distinct companies were successfully completed. Mr Xifaras has been leading the effort to expand the company's activities through the use of smart technologies, the spread of the use of CNG as a vehicle fuel through FISIKON refueling stations network, and the promotion of natural gas as a marine fuel.
Mr Xifaras is the vice-chairman of the TCG, the secretary of the Greek National Committee in the WEC, as well as the Greek National Representative in the WEC. He is one of the 18 co-chairs of the ECH2A and member of the Governing Board of Eurogas.
Mr Xifaras has extended experience as a researcher and business consultant and has been appointed in leadership positions. He has served as special adviser to the leadership of the Ministries of Development (2005-06) and the Environment, Energy and Climate Change (2013). He has also held the position of director of the office of the deputy minister of development, competitiveness, infrastructure, transport and networks, responsible for the management of the implementation and funds absorption of the NSRF 2007-13 and the design of the new programming period 2014-20.Andrea Testi
Chairman, Elpedison
Andrea Testi graduated “cum laude” in nuclear engineering from Politecnico di Milano (Italy).From 1987 to 1989, he worked in high energy physics at ILL Institute (Grenoble, France) and then in applied research at CISE (Milano, Italy). He moved to the power generation in 1990, joining ABB Group working among others as chief engineering coordinator for a major power and water project in Abu Dhabi. In 1998 he moved to Techint as project director for the first project financed waste-to-energy plant in Italy and then in 1999 to Techint’s daughter company Sondel as director, international development.In 2001, he moved to Enel (Rome, Italy) as head of international business development leading the international expansion in Spain, Slovakia and Bulgaria where he also was chairman of the JV which owned a 900 MW power plant. In 2006, he joined Edison (EDF Group) as head of international development and then as director of the International Power BU also taking part to the establishment of Elpedison.From 2015 to 2018 he continued his career at EDF in Paris as VP – southern Europe and, since 2016, as VP – generation development and services, Europe.Mr Testi has been continuously on the board of directors of Elpedison since its creation and from September 2018 he serves as executive chairman.Konstantinos Mavros
CEO, PPC Renewables
Konstantinos Mavros has significant and diversified experience in the broader energy sector and the fields of corporate finance and technology. He has worked in the past in the renewable energy sector, and has been leading companies in the technological field. He has also co-founded a Venture Capital fund supported by the European Investment Fund. He is an active member and holds key positions in several international professional and academic associations and has been a visiting lecturer at the Athens University International MBA program.
Mr Mavros holds a Masters’ degree in Finance from Imperial College London and has completed high level executive education programs at Harvard Business School.
Manousos Manousakis
Chairman & CEO, Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO)
Manos Manousakis has been the chairman of the board of directors and the chief executive officer of Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO or ADMIE) since June 2017. In 2019, he was elected member of the board of directors of the European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-E).
Previously, Mr Manousakis was the CEO of OTE Rural North and South, having held various positions of responsibility in the Greek Telecommunications Company, where he played an instrumental role in the design of cutting-edge telecommunication services. He was appointed Secretary General of the Hellenic Ministry of Economy (2015), as well as a Director at Black Sea Trade and Development Bank for the same period.
Mr Manousakis holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens. He has also academic experience having been a lecturer at the University of Piraeus. His career combines business development leadership and complex project management with country strategic planning.
Tassos Manos
CEO, HEDNO
Tassos Manos has been HEDNO΄s CEO since October 2019.
In the past:
Lafarge Holcim Europe-Head of Procurement Balkans.
Heracles GCCo - general manager responsible for logistics, exports, distribution terminals, procurement and group IS/IT.
ANEH Shipping Subsidiary-managing director.
PPC Renewables -project manager for mergers & acquisitions and business development
BCG (The Boston Consulting Group) - consultant.
PQH S.A.- COO
Co-founder - startups in medical device industryEducation
INSEAD – MBA.
Technical University of Crete - MSc. in Engineering Management
National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) - BA/MA in Naval Architecture & Marine EngineeringYiannis Yiarentis
Chairman of the BoD and CEO, DAPEEP
Yiannis Yiarentis has been the chairman of BoD and CEO at the Renewable Energy Sources Operator & Guarantees of Origin (DAPEEP) from August 2019 until today. He holds a significant Greek and international experience in top management positions, in both private and public sector, with the most important, that of the president and CEO of IPTO (ADMIE) from 2013 to 2015 when he paved the way for major electrical Interconnections with Greek islands (Cyclades) and all major infrastructure projects, such as the Megalopolis HVC, the interconnection of Polypotamos and many more projects that breathed life into the Electric System. Before that he had a long-term international career in large multinational and Greek companies in the Energy field. He has been a member of National and International Councils and Committees (Entso-e, MED-TSO). He holds a degree in Petroleum Engineering and Production Engineering and Management and a postgraduate degree (MSc) in Sustainable Development.
Aristotelis Chantavas
Head of Europe, Enel Green Power & president, SolarPower Europe
Aristotelis Chantavas is currently the head of Europe area in Enel Green Power, responsible for the European countries, except for Italy and Iberia.
Aristotelis is managing the renewable business of Enel in these countries, focusing mainly on wind, solar, hydro and battery storage technologies. Moreover, in March 2020 he was elected as the president of SolarPower Europe. He has a diverse background in the management of different types of renewables projects, varying in both size and type. His broad professional career in renewable energy, both in Europe and North America, includes executive roles in business development, construction and maintenance, M&A and new investments.
Aristotelis graduated in Civil Engineering from Democritus University of Thrace and holds an MSc in Engineering Business Management from University of Warwick, with further specialization in Entrepreneurial Studies at Harvard University and MIT Sloan School of Management.
Antonis Metaxas
Managing partner, Metaxas & Associates Law Firm
Professor Dr Antonis Metaxas is the founder and managing partner of Metaxas & Associates Law Firm, a firm ranked as top-tier in its core specializations, i.e. Energy, EU and Competition Law by all reputable international legal directories (e.g. "Legal 500" and Chambers & Partners").
Prof. Metaxas is the chairman of the Hellenic Energy Regulation Institute (HERI-www.energy-regulation.eu) and teaches EU Law at the University of Athens. He also acts as a visiting professor in various distinguished universities in Greece and abroad. Moreover, he is acknowledged as one of the most prominent professionals and academics in his field in Europe, which is attested by the fact that he has consistently been recognized as a leading legal advisor and litigator by many legal directories. Prof. Metaxas acts as a senior legal advisor to a number of governmental bodies, regulatory authorities and as well as major private and institutional clients.
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2:00 PM EEST
Discussion
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2:30 PM EEST
Networking luncheon
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4:00 PM EEST
THE US PERSPECTIVE ON THE EASTMED ENERGY AGENDA
Gus M. Bilirakis
Member, House Committee on Energy and Commerce, member, United States House of Representatives (via connection)
Gus M. Bilirakis
Member, House Committee on Energy and Commerce, member, United States House of Representatives (via connection)
Congressman Gus M. Bilirakis is a Republican, representing Florida’s 12th Congressional District. He is currently serving his sixth term in the US House of Representatives.
Gus serves on the energy and commerce committee and is vice-chairman of the Veterans’ affairs committee. Working in a bipartisan manner, his main priorities include controlling government spending, creating jobs for middleclass Americans, finding ways for government to operate smaller and smarter, and lowering taxes.
As the grandson of Greek immigrants, Gus is heavily invested in Hellenic affairs. The region is vital to American interests, and Greece is a strong ally of the U.S. He is the Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Affairs and the founding Co-Chair of the Congressional Hellenic Israel Alliance, a group of Members dedicated to advancing cooperation between the U.S., Greece, Israel, and Cyprus.
Gus strongly opposes the illegal Turkish occupation of Cyprus and has been a strong proponent of the reunification of Cyprus, on behalf of all the Cypriot people. He believes strongly in protecting religious freedoms across the globe, and stopping the persecution of religious minorities, including Coptic Christians in Egypt and Eastern Orthodox Christians in Turkey.
Prior to being elected to Congress, Gus served four terms in the Florida House of Representatives, where he chaired several prominent panels, including the Economic Development, Trade and Banking Committee.
Gus earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Florida and a J.D. from Stetson University. He interned for President Ronald Reagan and the National Republican Congressional Committee.
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4:10 PM EEST
Discussion
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4:15 PM EEST
YOUNG INVENTORS IN THE ERA OF COVID-19
- How does the pandemic affect inventiveness?
- Can such a crisis provide impetus to young inventors?
- What does humanity have to "invent" in order to regain vision?
Diana Voutyrakou
Coach, Plaisiobots, gold medal at the International Robotics Olympiad for Youngsters
Diana Voutyrakou
Coach, Plaisiobots, gold medal at the International Robotics Olympiad for Youngsters
Diana Voutyrakou (25 years old) is an Electrical Engineering and Computer Science graduate (MEng & BSc) from the National Technical University of Athens. In addition, she carries several awards from Robotics Competitions (National, European and International) as well as two Olympic Distinctions.
At the moment, she works as an Educational Robotics instructor and she has also founded an NGO, called Unique Minds,which helps young student to find and follow their ideal academic path. She is also author of Educational Robotics Book and a global Ambassador of G(irls)20 trying to empower more young women in STEM. All the above, led her among others to earn the Greek International Women Award, the Education Leaders Award and to be included at the Forbes 30 Under 30 GR list 2019.
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4:25 PM EEST
Discussion
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4:40 PM EEST
THE HELLINIKON PROJECT: MOVING FORWARD
The impact on the economy and the communityAdonis Georgiadis
Minister of development and investments, Greece
Adonis Georgiadis was born on November 6th, 1972, in Athens. He graduated from the Faculty of History & Archaeology of the School of Philosophy of the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens. In 1993, he took over the management of publications "Georgiadis-Library of Greek". In 1994, he founded the Liberal Studies Center "Greek Education".Elected MP in Athens B region in the elections of 2007 and 2009 with the LAOS political party. In February 2012, he joined the New Democracy political party, having resigned from the parliamentary office. Elected with New Democracy in Athens B in the national elections of 2012 and 2015.In 2011, he was vice-minister of shipping in the government of Lucas Papademos and in 2013 he was appointed minister of health in the government of Antonis Samaras. On January 18th, 2016, he was appointed as one of the two vice-presidents of the New Democracy by decision of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the president of New Democracy.On July 8th, Adonis Georgiadis was appointed as minister of develpopment and investments after the 2019 greek elections.He is married to Eugenia Manolidou and they have two children, Perseus and Alcaeus.Odisseas Athanasiou
Chief executive officer, Lamda Development
Odisseas Athanasiou has been holding the position of the chief executive officer at LAMDA Development S.A. for more than 11 years. He has long experience in senior executive positions in Greece and abroad.
During his 9-year career in the US, he worked for Ernst & Young and Emerson Electric. He has held the positions of CFO Western Europe in Barilla in Paris, CFO at Diageo Hellas, responsible of the Greek and Turkish Hub and CFO of Titan cement.
He holds a degree in Economics and Political sciences from the University of Athens and an MBA from the University of Texas in Austin. Mr Athanasiou is member of the Board of Directors of SEV, SELPE, Alliance for Greece (founding member) and member of the committee of the TEDX Academy Greece.
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5:00 PM EEST
RESTARTING BUSINESS AFTER COVID-19
- The government’s strategy and new incentives for business growth
- Recovery after covid-19: slowly but surely
- Exploiting culture and tradition within the context of the circular economy
Adonis Georgiadis
Minister of development and investments, Greece
Adonis Georgiadis was born on November 6th, 1972, in Athens. He graduated from the Faculty of History & Archaeology of the School of Philosophy of the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens. In 1993, he took over the management of publications "Georgiadis-Library of Greek". In 1994, he founded the Liberal Studies Center "Greek Education".Elected MP in Athens B region in the elections of 2007 and 2009 with the LAOS political party. In February 2012, he joined the New Democracy political party, having resigned from the parliamentary office. Elected with New Democracy in Athens B in the national elections of 2012 and 2015.In 2011, he was vice-minister of shipping in the government of Lucas Papademos and in 2013 he was appointed minister of health in the government of Antonis Samaras. On January 18th, 2016, he was appointed as one of the two vice-presidents of the New Democracy by decision of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the president of New Democracy.On July 8th, Adonis Georgiadis was appointed as minister of develpopment and investments after the 2019 greek elections.He is married to Eugenia Manolidou and they have two children, Perseus and Alcaeus.Christos Christodoulou
CEO, Delphi Alliance
Christos S. Christodoulou is the founder and CEO of CSC Christodoulou Ltd and CEO and Board Member of Delphi Alliance. He holds the professional title of Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant (FCCA), and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and he is a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Cyprus (ICPAC), holding the relevant practising certificate.
Christos is currently the president of the VAT committee of the ICPAC for the period 2019-21, (previously served as a member, secretary and president, for the last 20 years). He participates in several meetings at the Ministry of Finance, the House of Representatives and with the Tax Commissioner, for the formulation of tax laws, circulars and tax policies. He journals regularly about tax and other financial and economic subjects and interferes in a constructive way for promoting best practices and policies for the development of the Cyprus economy.
Stavros Konstantas
CEO, Ethniki Insurance Company
Stavros Konstantas has been the CEO of “Ethniki” Insurance Company since 2018 and acting CEO since 2016. He entered the company in 2011 and he was holding the position of CFO and COO, until February 2016.
During the period 1991-98, he worked in ING Life of Greece, where he served in several responsible positions in the Actuarial Department. In 1999, he was appointed chief actuary and operations manager and from 2002 to 2008 he held the position of CFO. In 2009, he was appointed chief bancassurance officer, responsible for the Bancassurance Distribution agreement with Piraeus bank. He was also deputy CEO in ING Life and ING Non Life and member of the board of directors of ING Brokerage and ING Piraeus JV.
Today, he is also chairman of the board of directors of Ethniki Insurance (Cyprus) Ltd and Garanta Asigurari S.A. in Romania and vice-chairman of the board of directors of the Association of Insurance Companies and of Europe Insurance Company.
He holds a bachelor and a postgraduate degree in Mathematics from the University of Athens and he has been a certified actuary since 1994.
Kostas Axarloglou
Dean and professor of international business and strategy, Alba Graduate Business School, The American College of Greece
Kostas Axarloglou
Dean and professor of international business and strategy, Alba Graduate Business School, The American College of Greece
Kostas Axarloglou, dean and professor of international business and strategy (Alba Graduate Business School), associate professor of international business (Democritus University of Thrace), Michael Gerrits Term chair assistant professor of economics (Babson College), visiting assistant professor of economics (Fuqua School of Business, Duke University), instructor (University of Michigan).
He holds a BA from Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, an MA from the University of Michigan and a PhD from the University of Michigan.
Dr Axarloglou is doing research and consulting work in the areas of international business (foreign direct investments), strategy (strategic leadership), and pricing. His research has been published in leading management and economics journals such as Management Science, the Journal of Business, the Journal of the European Economic Association, World Economy and Managerial and Decision Economics. He has received several research grants and also participated in numerous international conferences. Recently, he completed a study for the Athens Academy of Science on “The Lack of FDI Flows in Greece”. Dr Axarloglou serves in various company boards and has done extensive training and consulting work in numerous multinational corporations such as Carrefour, Eurobank, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen-Cilag, Novo Nordisk, Philip Morris International, PepsiCo, Shell, Titan, Viohalco and Vodafone.
Dr Axarloglou, a recipient of the Fulbright scholarship, has extensive teaching experience in all levels of business education and has also received several teaching awards.
He is a member of the American Economic Association.
Constantine Michalos
President, Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Constantine Michalos, born in 1960, studied Finance and Political Science at the University of Essex in United Kingdom, and pursued postgraduate studies on financial applications at the London School of Economics & Political Science (MSC).
He is currently president of the Union of Hellenic Chambers of Commerce and of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI). Since 1988 he has been the chairman and chief executive officer of SWAN SA, an industrial exporting company based in Krioneri, Attica, specializing in the production of natural latex products. Since 2010, he has been CEO of “M SOLUTIONS” – FOODBALLER, a food trading business offering complete food service products to Super Markets and Hotels throughout Greece.
From 1993 to 2005 he was an elected member of the board of ACCI. From 1998 to 2002 he was Treasurer of the ACCI. In 2002 he was elected on the Board of Directors of the Arab-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce and Development, in 2004 he was appointed as the Chamber’s vice-chairman, while in 2003 he was elected president of the Association of North Attica Region Enterprises. In the period 2004-05 he served as senior adviser at the Ministry of Development. From 2005 to 2006 he was the secretary-general of the Ministry of Economy & Finance. He has also been member of the Boards of Directors of the Greek Telecommunications Organization and the Greek Public Power Corporation.
In 2012 he was elected member of the Boards of Directors of ASTIR PALACE SA and ATHENS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT SA. In October 2013, he was elected as deputy - president of EUROCHAMBERS (The European Chamber of Commerce). In November 2013, he was elected as president of the Union of Balkans Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Constantine Michalos is married with four children, and speaks English and French.
Demetri Argyropoulos
CEO, Avant Global
As Founder, Chairman & CEO , Demetri is not only the driving force behind Avant Global’s vision, but also the principal architect of the firm’s strategy. He is highly regarded in the global business community for his proven track record in building successful relationships based on mutual value creation. By establishing commonality and rapport between stakeholders, Demetri creates an atmosphere of trust that enables relationships to flourish.
Since founding Avant Global, over two decades ago, Demetri and his partners have been involved in generating over $ 20 billion in value creation across a range of projects and businesses. He has been the catalyst for successfully originating, co-founding, or seeding over 60 new companies across a variety of industries ranging from medical devices to Artificial Intelligence. Demetri is a founding partner of The Healing Company (OTC:THCC), Axia (a premium white spirits brand) and Owl BioMedical (acquired by Miltenyi Biotec) and a Founding General Partner for Equiam LLC. He is on the advisory boards of bSpot, TGZ Capital, Investment Associates AG and Ripple Labs.
He is a member of the Visionary Founders (The Chopra Foundation), National Hellenic Society, YPO-WPO International, Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle, Tiger 21, L100, the Harvard Business School Alumni Organization, and the California Republican Adv isory Council. He is also serving as the Global Envoy for YPO GDN (Global Diplomacy Network) and co-chaired the 2018 and 2019 Silicon Valley YPO Innovation Summit.Aikaterini Polymerou – Kamilaki
Emer. researcher, former director of the Hellenic Folklore Research Centre of the Academy of Athens
Aikaterini Polymerou – Kamilaki
Emer. researcher, former director of the Hellenic Folklore Research Centre of the Academy of Athens
Doctor of the Faculty of Philosophy of the National Kapodistrian University of Athens Postgraduate Studies in Vienna, Munich.
Emerita Researcher, Former Director of the Research Center of Greek Folklore of the Academy of Athens, which organized and modernized, through the digitization of its Collections, the creation of new facilities, the enrichment of its editions, the organization of international conferences, exhibitions and the establishment of thematic museums. He made many scientific announcements at conferences, lectures, published books and hundreds of articles in magazines and newspapers, supervised large-scale research projects. Highlighted the importance of popular culture as a living element of culture and an instrument for modern local development.
She is a member: of the National Commission on Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture, the National Committee of Greece 2021. President Committee on Handicrafts of the Ministry of Development.
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5:35 PM EEST
Discussion
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6:15 PM EEST
End of conference sessions
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8:00 PM EEST
Arrival of guests – Welcome drinks
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9:00 PM EEST
Closing gala dinner
Guest of honour and keynote speaker:Alexis Tsipras
President of the Coalition of Radical Left (SYRIZA)-Progressive Alliance, leader of the main opposition, Greece
Alexis Tsipras
President of the Coalition of Radical Left (SYRIZA)-Progressive Alliance, leader of the main opposition, Greece
Alexis Tsipras was born in 1974. He entered into a civil partnership with Betty Baziana, and together, they have two sons. He studied Civil Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens, from which he later received a graduate degree in Urban and Regional Planning.
He was secretary of the youth wing of the "Coalition of the Left, Movements and Ecology", from 1999 to 2003. In 2006, he was elected councilman of Athens. In 2008, he was elected party president during the 5th Congress of the "Coalition of the Left", and then re-elected during the 6th Congress in June 2010. He has served as president of SYRIZA from the founding party congress in July 2013.
Since December 2012, he has served as vice-president of the "European Left" party (EL). In December 2013, he was nominated EL`s candidate for president of the European Commission.
He was elected MP and head of the Parliamentary Group of SYRIZA during the national elections of 2009. He was re-elected MP during the national elections in May and July 2012, and became leader of the opposition.
On January 26, 2015, he was sworn in as prime minister of Greece.
On September 21, 2015 Alexis Tsipras took the oath of office as prime minister of Greece for a second time.
He is currently serving as leader of the opposition since the last elections, on July 2019.
Venue
Escape in a haven of relaxation and grandeur by the azure of the sea, delve in the pleasures of luxury and experience the epitome of indulgence in the dreamiest island-like resort of the Athenian Riviera.
Nuzzled in a 72-acre private peninsula in the Athenian Riviera with stunning views to the Saronic Gulf, the 5 star Grand Resort Lagonissi exceeds all expectations of a luxury sea front summer resort.
Sponsors
Founding sponsor
NATIONAL BANK OF GREECE
NBG leads one of the largest banking groups in the country, providing a wide range of financial services.
Founding sponsor
NBG FACTORS
Tailor-made factoring solutions creating superior value for customers in a challenging environment.
Founding sponsor
NBG LEASING
NBG Leasing is a 100% subsidiary of National Bank of Greece and the leader in the financial leasing sector.
Founding sponsor
NBG SECURITIES
Investment services with expertise, quality, safety, that meet customers' changing needs
Platinum sponsors
IGI POSEIDON
IGI Poseidon S.A (50-50% JV between DEPA International Projects S.A and Edison International Holding S.p.A) is developing Eastmed -Poseidon and IGB projects
Platinum sponsors
PPC
Τhe largest electricity generator and the principal supplier of electricity in Greece, with nearly 6.3 million customers.
Platinum sponsors
ETHNIKI INSURANCE
For 132 years, Ethniki Insurance Company has been the reference name of insurance in Greece.
Gold sponsors
Panhellenic Union of Pharmaceutical Industry
The Panhellenic Union of Pharmaceutical Industry (PEF) represents 48 domestic pharmaceutical manufactures and commercial companies in Greece.
Gold sponsors
MASTERCARD
Mastercard is a global technology company, aiming to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone.
Gold sponsors
DEPA COMMERCIAL
The company that introduced natural gas in Greece.
Gold sponsors
EDISON
Edison is a leading energy company, with 140 years of history and records that make it Europe’s oldest operator in the sector. The company is at the forefront of the energy transition challenge and the achievement of European decarbonisation goals.
Gold sponsors
DELPHI ALLIANCE
A multi-practice network of professional service providers around the world, offering a unique business model.
Gold sponsors
ELPEDISON
Τhe first private energy producer in Greece and the alternative energy supplier next to each and every consumer
Silver sponsors
HENLEY & PARTNERS
Henley & Partners is the global leader in residence and citizenship by investment.
Silver sponsors
BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO HELLAS
BAT Hellas is a leading international company operating in Greece towards building A Better Tomorrow.
Silver sponsors
ELDORADO GOLD
Eldorado Gold is a Canadian mid-tier gold and base metals producer with more than 25 years of experience building and operating mines in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
Silver sponsors
SARDELAS PETSA LAW FIRM
A leading Greek firm of business law experts, specializing in finance, energy and asset development sectors.
Silver sponsors
ROCHE
Roche is a global pioneer in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics focused on advancing science to improve people’s lives.
Silver sponsors
IRON MOUNTAIN
A global leader in storage and information management services and trusted by more than 225,000 organizations around the world.
Bronze sponsors
ECOMMBX
ECOMMBX Limited, is an EMI incorporated in the Republic of Cyprus and is licensed by the CBC with license No.115.1.3.20/2018
Bronze sponsors
LAMDA DEVELOPMENT S.A.
LAMDA Development is a holding company specializing in real estate development, investment, and management. It is the leading real estate developer in Greece and the undisputed leader in the shopping centres sector, with successful diversification in the sectors of office and residential spaces. LAMDA Development has undertaken the complete urban regeneration of the Ellinikon-Aghios Kosmas Metropolitan Pole which will be the largest private investment in Greece and one the largest urban regeneration project in Europe.
Bronze sponsors
DESFA
DESFA is responsible for the operation, management, utilization and development of the National Natural Gas System of Greece and its interconnections.
Bronze sponsors
HEDNO
Connecting every corner of Greece through energy.
Bronze sponsors
IPTO
The mission of IPTO is to supply Greece with reliable, efficient and environmentally-friendly electric power, while promoting the development of free competition in the country’s electricity market.
With the support of
Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO)
Greek National Tourism Organization: implements the national strategy for the promotion of Greek Tourism abroad.
Academic sponsor
ALBA
Alba is a leading research-driven Graduate Business School, with a mission to educate the visionary leaders of tomorrow.
Supporting organisation
KONRAD ADENAUER STIFTUNG
The KAS is a political foundation, closely associated with the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU).
Contributors
AMAZON WEB SERVICES (AWS)
Contributors
HLF - HANIKIAN LAW FIRM
A top performer in bad debt portfolio management with over 25 years of experience
Contributors
METAXAS & ASSOCIATES
Top leading law firm recommended for its excellence by all international independent legal directories.
Contributors
ENEL GREEN POWER
Enel Green Power, driving the future of sustainable energy
Contributors
OFFICE LINE
An internationally recognized leading Cloud Solutions Provider and Digital Transformation company, empowering customers’ specific business requirements.
Contributors
DAPEEP
DAPEEP S.A. meets the modern challenges that Greece faces in the field of RES.
Contributors
FISIKON
Compressed natural gas (CNG) to private and company vehicles, saving up to 60% in transportation cost.
Contributors
DIAGEO
DIAGEO is a global leader in premium beverage alcohol with the ambition to be one of the best performing, most trusted and respected consumer products companies in the world.
Contributors
FCA HYGIENE
Leading expert in biosecurity - they provide customized infection prevention solutions in presence of people, 24/7, according to needs of each sector.
Airline carrier
AEGEAN AIRLINES
Aegean airlines, a member of Star Alliance, is Greece’s largest airline company.
Telecommunications provider
WIND
Nova and Wind Hellas are two of the most dynamic companies in the Greek telecoms sector, members of United Group.
Logistics supplier
DHL
DHL Express is the global market leader in international express business, with an unparalleled network of 220 countries.
IT sponsor
POBUCA
Pobuca offers a go-to-market CX platform for brands and retailers. They engage your customers and empower your people in sales, marketing, and customer service.
Communication sponsors
TO VIMA
“TO VIMA”, holds a leading position within Greek news media spectrum through its print and digital editions.
Communication sponsors
TA NEA
Solely driven by substantial cover of domestic and international news, supported by the most reliable team of journalists, TA NEA is consistently the leading daily evening newspaper.
Online communication sponsor
THE POWER GAME
wine sponsor
GREEK WINE CELLARS
Supporters
ARTECNIKO
Artecniko provides “State of the Art” video production, multimedia and photography services that optimally combine technical sufficiency and artistic creativity.
Supporters
CAFFÈ L'ANTICO
CAFFÈ L'ANTICO is a premium brand and exporter of the taste of the truly Italian awarded espresso.
Supporters
GEP
GEP was founded in 2000 by specialists in occupational health and safety growing today to the largest consultant in health and safety services in Greece.
Supporters
UNIPHARMA S.A.
Supporters
GLOA DESIGN & MARKETING SERVICES
Brand strategy, marketing consulting, creative communication, campaigns, media, events, below advertising, web strategy, social-media marketing.
Supporters
AVITRON EVENT PRODUCTION
Supporters
PENNIE
Supporters
BIOIATRIKH
Supporters
HMI & PARTNERS
Supporters
BENAKI MUSEUM
Enquiry
General information
Phone: (+30) 210 94 08 750
[email protected]
Sponsorships & partnerships
Clarine Kalogeraki
Phone: (+30) 210 94 08 750
[email protected]
Marketing & sales
Katerina Zacharakopoulou
Phone: (+30) 210 94 08 750
[email protected]
Commercial department
Konstantinos Sarlas
Phone: (+30) 210 94 08 750
[email protected]
Press office
Phone: (+30) 210 94 08 750
[email protected]
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