Speakers

Dr. Steven G. Cochrane, Managing Director, Moody’s Analytics, USA

Dr. Steven G. Cochrane is managing director of Moody’s Analytics. Dr. Cochrane oversees the U.S. regional forecasting service and directs the research and development activities of the research staff, including its recently introduced Global Cities service. He also edits the Regional Financial Review, the firm’s monthly publication that analyzes U.S. macro, regional, industry and international trends. Many of Dr. Cochrane’s consulting projects focus on state and local economic development. Early projects include a study of the industrial structure and comparative economic advantages for Sonoma County CA, followed by a 10-year update that modeled alternative outlook scenarios based on recommended improvements in labor force quality and green industry initiatives. Other projects have included studies of the changing industrial structure and economic competitiveness of Arizona, North Dakota and Pennsylvania, and the city and county of San Francisco. An analyst with Moody’s Analytics since 1993, Dr.Cochrane has been featured on Wall Street Radio, the PBS NewsHour, and CNBC. He earned a PhD in regional science at the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree at the University of Colorado at Denver, and a bachelor’s degree at the University of California at Davis.

Dr. Linda Yueh, Economist and Commentator, Global Authority on the Chinese economy, United Kingdom

Dr. Linda Yueh is an economist and commentator on global economic issues. She is currently economics correspondent for Bloomberg Television, the global 24-hour news network where she provides analysis of the top business, economic and financial news stories. Dr. Yueh is a particular expert on the global economy, macroeconomics, Asian economies, rise of emerging markets, advanced economies, international law and economic growth. She is considered one of the world's foremost experts on the Chinese economy. She is Director of the China Growth Centre at Oxford University which focuses on researching economic issues of relevance to China and the global economy. Dr. Yueh is also a Fellow in Economics at the University of Oxford and a Visiting Professor at the London Business School. She is also a research associate of the Globalisation Programme at the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She has been chosen as one of the "Business Thinkers 50", and is regarded as one of the most respected business commentators in the world. Dr. Yueh was previously a regular contributor to the BBC “World Business Report” and BBC World News covering global economic, financial and business issues. She was also a regular guest host on various CNBC business programmes, such as their flagship show Squawk Box, Worldwide Exchange, European Closing Bell and Europe Tonight. Dr. Yueh’s recent books include Macroeconomics (co-authored with Graeme Chamberlin) which is the recommended textbook for UK government economists, The Future of Asian Trade and Growth (editor), The Law and Economics of Globalisation (editor) and Globalisation and Economic Growth in China (co-edited with Yang Yao). Her next book, The Economy of China, will be published in 2010; it assesses the developments and prospects of the Chinese economy including its wider impact on the world economy. She has served as a special advisor for the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Economist Intelligence Unit, and the Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House), among others. In 2008, Linda was appointed to the World Economic Forum’s newly established Network of Global Agenda Councils that will set the global agenda for the annual meeting in Davos, among others. She was also a member of the Experts Analysis Group (EAG) of the UK Government’s Horizon Scanning Centre’s project on UK Futures: Society and Economy 2030 for the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and HM Treasury.

Praxoula Antoniadou Kyriakou, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Cyprus

Dr. Amir Mor, Energy and Environmental Economist and Financial Analyst, CEO, Eco Energy Ltd., Israel

Dr. Amit Mor, an energy and environment economist and financial analyst, is the CEO and owner of Eco Energy Ltd., an Israeli based economic and financial consulting and investment firm that specializes in the energy, environmental, and infrastructure sectors. He earned his Ph.D. in Energy, Environmental and Mineral Economics at the Pennsylvania State University (1996). The topic of his dissertation was “Natural Gas Projects in the Developing World: an Empirical Evaluation of Merits, Obstacles and Risks”. He studied for his M.A. and B.A. in Economics, Finance and Psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During the past 24 years, Dr. Amir Mor has specialized in energy and environmental finance and economics. He served as a consultant to governments, financial organizations, public and private companies in the fields of natural gas, petroleum, electricity and renewable energy. During the 1990’s he worked for eight years as a consultant at the World Bank in Washington D.C., and specialized in the finance of natural gas and energy projects, as well as in reform planning of energy and environmental policies of developing countries. During the 1980s he served as an assistant to the Israeli Minister of Energy and Infrastructure and as a chief economist in the Economic Planning Authority in the Ministry of Economic Planning. During the past decade Dr. Amir Mor and Eco Energy worked intensively on issues concerning the development of the Eastern Mediterranean and Israeli gas sector. Dr. Amir Mor also lead the team that prepared the Energy Master Plan for the State of Israel and participated in the World Bank team that prepared the Energy Sector Review for the Palestinian Authority. Dr. Amir Mor has a special interest in Middle East energy and energy geopolitics. He recently published the book “Renewable Energy in the Middle East - Enhancing security through regional cooperation”, Springer, October 2009, under the “NATO Science for Peace and Security Series: Environmental Security” (co-editor with Michael Mason).

Hans Jochum Horn, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Renaissance Group, Russia

Hans Jochum Horn joined the Renaissance Group in July 2005 and held the position of Chief Operating Officer until 2009, when he became the Deputy Chief Executive Officer. He oversees the Group Client Accounts program and coordinates the activities of the Business Units of Renaissance Group. He has direct supervisory responsibility for the operation of Renaissance Group in Cyprus and Kazakhstan. Prior to joining Renaissance Group, Hans Jochum Horn was Managing Partner of Ernst & Young’s Russia and CIS operations and a member of the firm’s Global Council from 2002 to 2005. Hans Jochum Horn came to Moscow in 1990 to establish Arthur Andersen’s Russian practice. For fifteen years, he was the leader of a fast-growing audit and advisory firm and successfully implemented the integration of Ernst & Young’s and Andersen’s CIS practices in 2005. Hans Jochum Horn has been a frequent advisor to the government, ministries and regional authorities of Russia and other CIS countries. He started his career with Arthur Andresen in Norway where he built the Oil & Gas practice in the 80s. He headed the practice of Arthur Andersen in Western Norway as well as the Scandinavian Oil & Gas practice. He was a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Eurochem in 2005/2006 and a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Uralkali from 2009 to 2011. Hans Jochum Horn is a Diploma Kaufmann graduate of the University of Manheim and State Authorized Public accountant in Norway. He has served as Chairman of the Norwegian Association of MBA Graduates, is a founding member of the German Chamber of Commerce in Russia and was President of Junior Achievement Russia.

Alan Wheatley, Global Economics Correspondent, Thomson Reuters, United Kingdom

Alan Wheatley took up the post of Global Economics Correspondent for Reuters in London in August on his return from Beijing, where he spent six years as China Economics Editor and contributed a regular column to the International Herald Tribune. Earlier postings in the course of a 31-year career include Singapore and Tokyo, analysing economic and financial trends across Asia, and spells in New York and Washington covering U.S. financial markets and policy-making. As European Economics Correspondent in Paris in the early 1990s and later in London, Mr. Wheatley covered the run-up to the Maastricht Treaty on EMU and then the launch of the single currency.

Mr. Tony Barber, Europe Editor, The Financial Times, United Kingdom

Mr. Tony Barber is the Europe Editor of Financial Times, specialising in European political, economic and business news. Previously, he was the Breau Chief of Financial Times in Brussels (2002-2007) and in Frankfurt (1998-2002) whilst he has been the East Europe editor and Europe editor of The Independent (1990-1997). He was also the correspondent of Reuters to New York, Washington, Chicago (1982-83), to Vienna (1983), to Warsaw (1984-85), to Moscow (1985-87), to Washington (1987-88) and to Belgrade (1989). He graduated with First Class Honours Degree in Modern History at St John’s College, Oxford University.

Mr. Peter Ayliffe, President and CEO, Visa Europe

Mr. Ayliffe joined Visa Europe in 2006. He has driven increased customer focus, moving more people to the frontline of the business and creating Centres of Excellence to improve the provision of innovative, value-creating solutions. He previously spent more than 20 years with Lloyds TSB, a leading UK bank, where he held a number of executive posts in the bank’s retail business, culminating in his appointment as a group board director. Mr. Aylliffe also spent five years as a non-executive director on the Visa Europe board. He has a degree in economics from Manchester University. He is also a non-executive director for Investor in People. He was named Industry Personality of the Year at The Card Awards 2009.

Efthimios Bouloutas, Group Chief Executive Officer, Marfin Popular Bank, Greece

Mr. Efthimios Bouloutas, holds the position of Group Chief Executive Officer of Marfin Popular Bank, since February 2008. Prior to joining Marfin Bank as a CEO in 2006 he worked at EFG Eurobank Ergasias holding various positions the latest being General Manager, member of the Executive Committee and Chief Executive Officer at Eurobank Asset Management. He was member of the BoD at EFG Private Bank Luxemburg. He was the founding member of the asset management firm Ionian Mutual Funds. He holds a Civil Engineering degree from National Technical University of Athens, a M.Sc. degree in Civil Engineering/Water Resources from Stanford University and a Ph.D. degree in Fluid Mechanics from MIT. He has also conducted post-doctorate studies and research at Princeton University.

Miltos Kambourides, Founder and Managing Partner of Dolphin Capital Partners (DCP), United Kingdom

Mr. Miltos Kambourides is the Founder and Managing Partner of the private equity firm Dolphin Capital. Its flagship investment vehicle is Dolphin Capital Investors (DCI, www.dolphinci.com), a leading global investor in the residential resort sector in emerging markets and the largest real estate investment company quoted on AIM in terms of net assets. Prior to Dolphin Capital, Mr. Miltos Kampourides was a founding partner of Soros Real Estate Partners, a global real estate private equity business formed in 1999 by George Soros. Prior to joining Soros, he spent two years at Goldman Sachs Real Estate Principal Area. Miltos graduated from MIT with a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering and a BS in Mathematics. He has received several academic honours and participated in various International Maths Olympiads. He is a member of the World Travel & Tourism Council and sponsors the Kambourides Graduate Fellowship in the Center for Computational Engineering at MIT.

Mr. Brian J. McBride, Former Managing Director and Vice President of Amazon.co.uk, Venture Partner at Scottish Equity Partners LLP, United Kingdom

Mr. Brian J. McBride is a Venture Partner of Scottish Equity Partners LLP. Mr. McBride served as Managing Director and Vice President of Amazon.co.uk Limited. Mr. McBride served as Managing Director of Everything Everywhere Limited (Formerly T-Mobile (UK) Limited) since August 2003 and also served its Chief Executive Officer. He served as Chief Executive of U K Mobile Operation at Deutsche Telekom AG until January 2006. His early career and management development was ... at IBM, where he started and spent 12 years in sales, culminating in the appointment as Director of UNIX Marketing for IBM Europe. He served as Managing Director at Crosfield Electronics, President of Europe for Madge Networks and Vice President and General Manager for Dell Northern Europe. He has been Senior Independent Director and Non-Executive Director of ComputaCenter plc since January 2011. Mr. McBride served as Non-executive Director of Celtic PLC. from January 5, 2005 to October 30, 2009. Mr. McBride had broad non-executive experience, having served as Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and SID of S3 PLC, NED at Celtic Football Club PLC, Chairman of Virgin Mobile, and as a Board member of the British Retail Consortium. In addition, he has served as a trustee of Kind Direct (a Prince's Trust Charity).

Dr. Stavros A. Zenios, Professor, University of Cyprus President of the Universities of the Capitals of Europe, Cyprus

Dr. Stavros Zenios is a professor at the University of Cyprus. He was just reelected as the President of UNICA (Universities of the Capitals of Europe) for a second four year term. He has been the Rector of the University of Cyprus between 2002-2010 also served as the first Chairman of the Cyprus Rectors Conference that was established in 2004 under his initiative. Dr. Zenios received a BSc in Mathematics from London University in 1980, a BEng in Electrical Engineering from Council of Engineering Institutions in 1982, MA and PhD in Engineering-Management Systems from Princeton University in 1986, and an Honorary MA from University of Pennsylvania in 1992. Prior to joining the University of Cyprus to serve as the first Dean of the School of Economics and Management he was a tenured faculty member of the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He also held visiting appointments at the Sloan School of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Haifa (Israel), University of Vienna, and the Universities of Bergamo, Milano, Urbino and Venice as a fellow of the Italian CNR. He is known for his work in risk management, financial services and operations research. In his career he authored three books, edited sixteen books and journal issues, and (co)authored over 160 scholarly articles in some of the premier journals in the field. He holds two US patents on financial engineering methods, his work has been reproduced in edited volumes, textbooks and encyclopedias, and his book with Pat Harker on the Performance of Financial Institutions (Cambridge University Press) was translated in Chinese. In 2006 he received the EURO Excellence in Research Award by the European Federation of Operations Research Societies. His book with Yair Censor Parallel Optimization (Oxford University Press) received the 1999 ICS prize of The Institute of Operations Research and the Management Sciences, and his article with A. Soteriou on Service Quality received a Best Paper Award from the Decision Sciences Institute in 1999. In 2000 he was selected as a Marie Curie Fellow by the European Commission. Dr. Stavros Zenios served as consultant for several financial institutions and Government agencies, including Union Bank of Switzerland, World Bank, Federal National Mortgage Association and Central Bank of Cyprus. He lectured in 25 countries in North and South America, Europe and the Far East. He serves on the editorial board of seven journals and is editor for two volumes in Elsevier’s series Handbooks of Finance. With his wife Nina they climbed Kilimanjaro reaching Uhuru Peak (5895m) at 8.20am.

Dr. Vassilis Argyrou Hajivassiliou, Reader in the Department of Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom

Dr. Vassilis Argyrou Hajivassiliou is a Reader in the LSE Department of Economics and an FMG Research Associate. He received a B.Sc. and a M.Sc. in Economics from the LSE in 1980 and 1981 respectively. He earned his Ph.D. from M.I.T. in 1985 under the supervision of Professor Daniel McFadden, winner of the 2000 Nobel prize in Economics. After receiving the Ph.D., he was appointed to the economics faculty of Yale University, where he was a professor until 1996, when he moved to the LSE. He has held visiting professorships at the universities of Columbia and Toulouse. His scientific research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and other agencies. He has authored several scientific articles and software publications, and has contributed to various econometric volumes. His research interests include theoretical, applied, and computational econometrics, and the effects of quantity constraints on dynamic economic behaviour, with particular emphasis on problems in corporate finance.

Manthos Mavrommatis, President, Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Cyprus

Manthos Mavrommatis was born in Nicosia in 1957 and is the President of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry since 2005. He has studied at the London School of Economics (BSc Econ) and the Business School of the University of Chicago (M.B.A.). He is a board member of the Bank of Cyprus Group, listed in the Cyprus and Athens Stock Exchanges, a board trustee of the Cyprus Institute and board member of the Research Promotion Foundation and the Cyprus International Institute of Management. He has served as member of the Cypriot delegation in the European Economic and Social Committee, the consultative body of the social partners of the European Union and he is an Honorary Consul of Mexico in Cyprus.