Keynote Speakers
Professor of Economics and Regional Science at UCLouvain, Belgium
Jacques-François Thisse is is a Belgian economist, author, and academic. He is a Professor Emeritus at the University of UCLouvain in Belgium. He has published over 150 articles in different international journals (Econometrica, American Economic Review, Journal of Economic Theory, Operations Research, etc) and in different disciplines such as industrial economics, spatial economics, international economics and management science. He is particularly interested in product differentiation, heterogeneous consumers and firms in various types of market structure and spatial settings, as well as in the spatial organization of economic activities. He has been a Visiting Invited Professor in many departments, most recently at Columbia economics department and has received many prestigious awards, amongst which the Solvay price of the Belgian Science foundation in 2006. more
Director-General of the European Commission’s Regional and Urban Policy, Belgium
Themis Christophidou is the Director-General of the European Commission’s Regional and Urban Policy department since September 2023. Between 2018 and 2023, Themis Christophidou served as Director General of the European Commission’s Education, Youth, Sport and Culture department. She is a civil engineer with a 38-year professional experience in the public and private sector.
Themis Chrisrophidou has been serving the EU for over 23 years. She has held various posts, from transport program manager in the Directorate-General for Regional Policy to Member of Cabinet of the first European Commissioner from Poland, Danuta Huebner. She has also served as deputy head of Cabinet of Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou, as Head of Cabinet of the Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, Maria Damanaki and as Head of Cabinet of the Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides. more