Delphi Economic Forum kicks off at Zappeio

The sixth edition of the Delphi Economic Forum’s annual conference begins on Monday in hybrid format at Zappeio Hall in central Athens, under the auspices of Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou. In what is a highly symbolic year for Greece, the event will commemorate the bicentennial of the Greek Revolution.

Run through Saturday, the conference features a roster of current and former country leaders, and will include a keynote speech by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and an address by former British prime minister Tony Blair.

DEF 2021 will feature eight thematic pillars: Greek Revolution Bicentennial: 1821-2021; Geopolitics & International Security; Global Economy; the Future of Europe; Sustainability and Climate Change; People, Organizations and Society; Technology and the Future of Growth; and Greece: Structural Reforms and Sustainable Growth.

The forum will be in parallel streams. One of the main events, offered on the Apollon Stream, features a conversation between Mitsotakis and his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sanchez, chaired by Politico Managing Director Florian Eder and introduced by Symeon G. Tsomokos, the DEF organizer. It starts at 4.30 p.m. on Monday.

That will be followed at 5.20 p.m. on the same stream by the “Leaders who Shaped the Nation” session. Looking back on the 200 years of the Greek state, the session, chaired by journalist and philologist Vicky Flessa, will present five key statesmen (Ioannis Kapodistrias, Harilaos Trikoupis, Eleftherios Venizelos, Konstantinos Karamanlis and Andreas Papandreou) through lectures by historians and university professors. This session ends at 6.55 p.m.

On Wednesday, on the Artemis stream of the event, Kathimerini English Edition Editor-in-Chief Tom Ellis will chair a discussion at the main hall of the Athens Academy titled: “Climate Change and Natural Disasters: Transformation policies for a sustainable future.” It will feature Deputy Prime Minister Panagiotis Pikrammenos, Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras, Athe Academy Secretary-General Christos Zerefos and Athens College President Kostas Synolakis. This discussion begins at 10.30 a.m. and lasts 50 minutes.

There will be live translation between Greek and English for the duration of the six-day forum. To register visit delphiforum.gr.