Greece’s most senior government official in financial matters is in Australia this weekend, leading the EU’s input to the first ministerial-level G20 meeting in Australia’s host year as president of the G20.
Secretary General of the Greek Ministry of Finance – Ms Christina Papaconstantinou will be representing Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras in Sydney Friday and Saturday.
With Greece holding the presidency of ECOFIN – the EU body composed of finance ministers of the 28 member states – and Australia chairing the G20, the two countries find themselves presiding over the world’s most powerful inter-governmental institutions – giving each an opportunity to influence global economic policies.
The meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in the NSW capital is to prepare the ground for the G20 Leaders Summit to be held in Brisbane in November.
Neos Kosmos understands Ms Papaconstantinou will be presenting the EU’s position on economic development, job creation, financing strategies for long-term investment and tax transparency.
A former lawyer, Ms Papaconstantinou was previously Greece’s Secretary General for Fiscal Policy and President of the country’s Public Debt Management Office. She has also served as a G20 Deputy Finance Minister.
The Sydney conference is the first of two preparatory meetings in the lead up to November’s G20 meeting, following which Australia will hand the G20 presidency over to Turkey.
