Greece 2.0 – A resilient and stable European partner in a challenging environment
SCERU, alongside the Graduate School of Public Policy, has organized a public seminar with the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as the guest speaker. Titled, Greece 2.0 – A resilient and stable European partner in a challenging environment, the onsite seminar was chaired by Director Chiyuki Aoi with an introductory address from Dean of GraSPP, Professor Keisuke Iida.
Prime Minister Mitsotakis presented his vision about propelling Greece, with renewed ambition, at the forefront of European and international developments. He highlighted how, after a decade-long financial crisis, Greek society has demonstrated resilience to populism and has regained confidence and dynamism. He further explained how ambitious reforms have restored normalcy and revived the economy. In this vein, he referred to key macroeconomic indicators, record investment inflows, the positive outlook for the Greek economy, despite the energy crisis and the inflationary pressures. The Prime Minister also referred to his government’s track record in effective crisis management (pandemic, Russian aggression against Ukraine, energy and food crises) and to its contribution to key EU/NATO policies and Greece’s proactive foreign policy.
Program:
Opening address by Dean Keisuke Iida, GraSPP
Speech by Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece
Chaired by Professor Chiyuki Aoi, GraSPP/SCERU
About the speaker:
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-Government 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 Defense. 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.