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Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva arrives for the G20 Summit of the Heads of State and Government at the La Nuvola Conference Centre.
IMF Photo/Giuseppe Nucci
30 October 2021
Rome, Italy
Photo ref: G20 - IMF -30th October - HR-3.jpg
Managed to fit a trip to one of the local spots alongside the weekend commitments...nothing too exciting but it was nice to get the camera out :)
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, Head of the BIS Innovation Hub Benoît Cœuré, and Professor at Cornell University and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution Eswar Prasad participate in “The Digital Money Revolution” seminar moderated by Chief Economics Commentator at the Financial Times Martin Wolf during the 2021 Annual Meetings at the International Monetary Fund.
We managed to get up to The Lake District for a few days at Easter. We got away from work on Good Friday afternoon and spent three hours covering 110 miles, the M61 and M6 were very slow or stopped. As ever once there we soon left the hassle behind. We were using a B&B that we used very regularly for ten years until the owner passed away quite suddenly. Now under new ownership it has been totally gutted and refurbished, it’s very nice but twice as expensive.
We were out in good time on Saturday, it was dull and cool but very calm. I’d deliberated for ages as to where to walk, wanting to avoid the worst of the Easter crowds. It was the busiest I’d seen the Lakes for a long time amd the North Lakes in particular had stunning weather, the South Lakes had dense fog in places until the afternoon and was much cooler – but not cold. Parking in Patterdale we headed up Arnison Crag, on to Birks aiming for St Sunday Crag. This was where it started to go wrong. I got a sudden pain in my right ankle, near a previous serious ankle injury, it’s not unusual to get a bit of pain in this ankle but it got worse. My ankle felt like it was in a vice. On the plus side the cloud which was very low initially was clearing higher at the same speed that we were climbing. We scrambled over Cofa Pike through some snow on to Fairfield and for a change the summit was clear with glorious views. I had to undo my gaiter and slacken my boot, my ankle was swelling and bruising. I took paracetemol and carried on – I didn’t have much choice really. We walked to Hart Crag out to Dove Crag, back to Hart Crag as we wanted to head down over Hartsop above How. We stopped for a quick sandwich and pot of lemon tea before heading down the rocky path. By now I was suffering but still able to walk fairly fast. The yomp back along the road to Patterdale was tough. We covered 11.5 miles in around five hours, which was OK for a first walk in the mountains for a while. We drove to Keswick wanting to get to Brysons tearooms for cake and coffee. Keswick was packed and sunny and we had to walk in half a mile, that was painful, my ankle was agony until I got it loosened up. Toasted Plum Bread, apple pie and ice cream and coffee made up for the grief.
On Sunday I knew I couldn’t walk much. I was applying Ibuprofen Gel regularly but it was going to be a car and camera day. There was dense fog when we set off so I decided we needed to be somewhere attractive when it started to clear, I just didn’t know when that was going to be. We drove into Langdale and the fog broke to reveal Blue sky and the top of the Langdale Pikes, it was fantastic. I immediately thought of Blea Tarn and drove up the pass out of Langdale. I expected to find, as is usual, tripods in a row, with photographers clicking away. There wasn’t a soul, it was so calm and peaceful – and beautiful – I couldn’t believe my luck. I limped as fast as I could to the Tarn, unfortunately an overnight camper, who I chatted with about the beauty, reflections and the camera I was carrying, did her best to encourage her dog into the water and she got in to get washed. It was so calm that the ripples would cross the entire tarn and spoil the photos. I shot as quick as I could, moving away from her all the time. I think I had around 15 minutes at the most before a breeze – that I couldn’t feel – started to ripple the water. The reflections disappeared and it was over. Without the bad ankle I would have missed this tranquillity as we would have been toiling up out first climb of the day. The fog stayed put in the South Lakes but we headed north over Dunmail Raise to blue sky and 17 degrees.
On Monday after 36 hours of Ibuprofen I felt that my ankle would stand a six or seven miler – but where? We had very thick fog in Ambleside so again I drove over Dunmail Raise and again it was fantastic. I could see the chance of some good photos around Thirlmere but I had to get waterside at a point where the view wasn’t obstructed with saplings and bushes growing out of the water. This was easier said than done, it took three attempts to get a decent location. I had reflections, hanging mist, water and mountains – and wet feet again, fortunately I had my walking boots and socks to put on for the walk ahead. After my photo chase we parked at Steel End and headed up the steep nose of Steel Fell. It’s a tough climb but the view over Thirlmere was great. We could see the wall of fog to the south and I was looking forward to getting to the top, hoping that we would be able to see over it with mountains poking out of a sea of white. This was exactly as it was, the Lion and the Lamb on Helm Crag looked like an island in the sea of mist. We walked along the ridge to Calf Crag with clear views to the north and a sea on mist to the south, it looked like the right choice again. We were going to head down Wythburn back to Thirlmere. Wyth Burn runs through a secluded hanging valley through an area called The Bog. I’ve walked down here a few times and at first glance it looks dry – they didn’t name it The Bog for nothing – it is extremely wet. It doesn’t matter how high you walk to avoid it – you can’t! We were wet above the gaiters by the time we got back and it was tough on the ankle. Brysons here we come, another beautiful hot day in Keswick but back to work tomorrow.
Managed to make a rare appearance on the Front Page of explore yesterday. Funny how the ones I don't think that much about can be so interesting!
Thanks for all the comments and faves by the way, much appreciated.
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva conducts her press conference during the 2021 Annual Meetings at the International Monetary Fund.
IMF Photo/Cory Hancock
13 October 2021
Washington, DC, United States
Photo ref: CH211013013.arw
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva participates in the World of Light Chanukah event with World Bank Group President David Malpass and Inter-American Development Bank President Mauricio Claver-Carone at the Inter-American Development Bank.
IMF Photo/Cory Hancock
23 November 2021
Washington, DC, United States
Photo ref: CH211123042.arw
International Monetary Fund Managing Director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn (Center Right), at a press conference with IMF Western Hemisphere Director Nicolas Eyzaguirre (R), Peru Finance Minister Mercedes Araoz (Center Left) and Peru Press Secretary Jose Chiritos (L) after meeting with Peru President, Alan Garcia, during a visit to the Government Palace in Lima, Peru on May 27, 2010. IMF Staff Photographer/Thomas Dooley.
Troels Oerting Jorgensen, Head of the Centre for Cybersecurity, World Economic Forum, Ali bin Masoud bin Ali Al Sunaidy, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council for Planning and Special Envoy of Oman, Elizabeth de Freitas, Regional Manager Middle East, Darktrace, United Kingdom, Guido Gluschke, Director, Institute for Security and Safety (ISS), Germany and Usama M. Fayyad, Founder and Chairman, Open Insights, USA speaking during the Session "Managing Cyber-Risks" at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre before World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa 2019. Copyright by World Economic Forum / Jakob Polacsek
Managed to remove the plaster and clean up the plimsolls surprisingly although they are a bit battered, worse are the heel stitching which has split.
(Update 2015: Google has long since corrected this problem. Chrome is now color-managed.)
About half of my recent monitor calibration problems turned out to be a problem with Google Chrome. Here are four views of an image as rendered by Photoshop, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, and Mozilla Firefox.
The Photoshop, Safari and Firefox images look about the same, but there's something wrong with Chrome's rendering. (Blown-out highlights among other things.)
Definition: An embedded color profile is a code tucked inside an image file that tells your browser how it should render a given RGB color.
It turns out that Google Chrome isn't color-managed, meaning that it doesn't read and honor embedded color profiles.
No matter how well your monitor is calibrated, Chrome is unlikely to show you what the photographer intended if the image file has an embedded profile.
Nowadays, most images contain embedded profiles, and this is especially true at photographic specialty sites like Flickr. Programs like Photoshop and Aperture embed profiles by default, as do many cameras (e.g. Nikon DSLRs). Flickr preserves and transmits profile data faithfully.
Exception: Flickr's slide show is not color managed. Flickr is aware of the problem, but doesn't see any urgency about correcting it.
If we care about faithful image reproduction, we need to use color-managed browsers.
Safari and recent versions of Firefox are color-managed, so they work correctly in this context. As much as I have enjoyed using Chrome, I'm switching back to Safari until Google gets this problem worked out. Google is aware that the problem exists.
I have read that IE8 isn't color-managed, but I don't have a computer that's able to run it. Likewise, IE9 is said to be color-managed, but again I can't run it, so I don't know for sure.
You can visit ShaoLynx's test set to see whether your browser is color-managed.
www.flickr.com/photos/shaolynx/sets/72157623029805282/
And there are a few tangentially related comments here:
www.flickr.com/photos/flint-hill/5835888851/
(Thanks to Ed Bolton for pointing out that Flickr's slideshow app isn't color-managed.)
We managed to get to the Lake District for the Easter weekend. We were open at work on Good Friday so I had to be in at work for a couple of hours and didn’t set off until 9.00am. We had a quick café stop and then jumped on the M62. It took us until 2.00pm to get to Langdale. We crawled up the M61 and M6, reminding me why we used to avoid Bank Holiday traffic. Although staying in Ambleside we drove to Langdale to get a couple of hours walking in. Langdale was packed but we found a place to park at the foot of the pass up to Blea Tarn. We headed up Pike of Blisco – against a steady stream of walkers descending at this time in the afternoon. I didn’t bother taking photos to any great extent, it wasn’t great light, windy and the appalling weekend forecast had depressed me – this was supposed to be the best day and it was nearly over. After a nice settled spell, possibly the first in the north of England this winter (now officially British Summertime) heavy rain and gales were coming our way apparently.
Each morning I studied the maps trying to second guess the light, wind and crowds. On Saturday it was initially dry, much to our surprise, we parked in Coniston and set off up Walna Scar Road. It’s a long steep drag to the top of the pass, the cloud was down and thick, the wind was getting extreme as we got higher – and we didn’t see a soul! We were heading over Brown Pike onto Dow Crag, we weren’t likely to get lost on a ridge. By now it was raining hard and the wind was making staying upright difficult. We slid off the rocky summit of Dow Crag on our backsides, the safest way. We dropped on to Goats Hause, the wind was screaming through and but I guessed there would be some shelter if we headed for the Old Man of Coniston. We met the first person of the day here, arriving at the summit just before him. There was still winter snow on north facing slopes but the wind wasn’t as bad as Dow Crag. It was grim, 30 metre visibility and there was very little point in staying on the tops as originally planned. Jayne was up for heading straight down the tourist track through the quarries. We have only ever ascended it before but we set off down at a trot, passing some fell runners along the way. There was a steady stream of Easter trippers heading up and judging by the questions we were asked on the way down they had little idea of what they were heading in to or how far they were from the summit, and all in appalling conditions. Lower down it was quite calm and many had little idea of the severity of the conditions on the tops. The countryside was rapidly waterlogging again after the belated dry spell.
Sunday brought more very heavy rain and gales on the tops. What looked like snow had accumulated on high ground overnight. It was actually several inches of hail and was horrible underfoot, like small wet marbles but trapping a lot of water on the lower slopes below the freezing line. We parked at Patterdale and walked across slopes that the recent floods had wreaked havoc on, with a lot of remedial work to be done this summer. The plan was to get to Boardale Hause and decide whether to go high – over Place Fell – or head in to Boardale and stay low by doing a circuit of Place Fell. It was raining hard and there was a howling gale but it was behind us, the cloud had lifted a bit so we went high. The summit plateau was a nightmare, covered in slippy, wet, slushy hail with the wind nearly blowing us over. We went north straight over the top and down the other side, the top was in thick cloud but the lower slopes were clear and we legged it off the fell, descending by Scalehow Force waterfall, which was in fine form with the heavy rain. We followed the path above the shores of Ullswater back to Patterdale. Another wet walk.
Monday saw us parked a mile or so south of yesterday’s parking place in Patterdale at Bridgend. With the weather being bad people weren’t out early, even on a bank holiday, so we didn’t have a problem parking. There wasn’t a plan, we were just making it up. Today looked promising, Storm Katie was battering the rest of the country but missed the north for a change. The tops were wintry, again it was hail accumulations not snow, on the high ground it was on very old lying snow and very difficult on steep descents. We decided to take the steady slopes of Hartsop above How to Hart Crag, on to Fairfield and then hopefully over Cofa Pike on to St Sunday Crag, Birks and finally Arnison Crag. This was just less than ten miles and it turned out to be a very tough five hours, exhausting, particularly after the three previous days. A large coastguard helicopter circled us repeatedly and finally landed on the path we were following to Hart Crag, we assumed it was on an exercise. The ground was frozen above 2500 feet and walking was easier as the snow/hail was load bearing and we could yomp on a bit. It was like midwinter with frequent squally whiteouts blasting in. The wind would pick up first lifting the frozen hail in a frozen spindrift that bounced along several feet high blasting our faces, this was followed by, what was more like frozen drizzle than snow, fine, but hard, we could feel it through our clothes it came at us that hard. I decided that we would head straight over Cofa Pike to St Sunday. A mistake with hindsight. The lake of footprints was the first bad sign but we were committed. We lived to tell the tale but Jayne had a bit of a near miss. The crag down to Cofa is steep and it was covered in hail on old snow, the layer of hail was shearing away from the underlying snow and we had to go down on out backsides, keeping a tight grip as we went. At one point Jayne failed to arrest a slide that was above a steep and deep drop. I had hold of her from a position in front of her and to her left and I was fairly well anchored so I felt in control and was sure of the outcome. From her point of view it was frightening and it subdued her for the rest of the walk. She had also ripped the outer lining of her Paramo waterproof trousers as well. Considering that we were going downhill it was hard going, every step a slip or a slide, with the underlying grass saturated and a thin layer of hail it was an unpleasant walk off the fell. At the end of Arnison Crag we took a pathless shortcut – that we swore we would never use again years ago – to save around twenty minutes of walking. This was the only day I had the camera out all day and had to cover it with a dryliner bag whenever a heavy shower came in. I also broke the lens hood. We drove to Keswick for afternoon coffee and toast at Brysons. The new Paramo store across the square was the next stop for new trousers. These Paramos had cost £85 14 years ago and they have just brought a new model out. We had two choices, The old model was reduced to…..£85 – after 14 years we could pay the same price or we could return the old trousers - cleaned – and get a £50 voucher towards the new model, which are £135, or £85 with the voucher. The old ones were ¾ of a mile away in the car – unwashed – so we bought the old model. Needless to say we had a couple of drinks in the Golden Rule in Ambleside every night before our tea.
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde(R) is meeting with Algerian Financial Minister Karim Djoudi(L) , March 12, 2013. (Photo by Larbi Louafi)
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva meets with President of Guinea-Bissau Umaro Sissoco Embaló at the International Monetary Fund.
IMF Photo/Alison Shelley
13 December 2022
Washington, DC, United States
Photo ref: AS221213058.jpg
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva participates in the G20 family photo at the Fontana di Trevi.
IMF Photo/Giuseppe Nucci
30 October 2021
Rome, Italy
Photo ref: G20 - IMF -30th October - HR-45.jpg
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva transfers between meetings during the 2022 Annual Meetings at the International Monetary Fund.
IMF Photo/Cory Hancock
12 October 2022
Washington, DC, United States
Photo ref: CH221012085.arw
csis.org/event/first-globals-understanding-managing-and-u...
Featuring a discussion with author
John Zogby
Senior Analyst, Zogby Analytics
Founder of the "Zogby Poll" and the Zogby companies
Author, The Way We'll Be
Moderated by
Patricia Ellis
President and Co-Founder, Women's Foreign Policy Group
Thursday, June 20, 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
B1 Conference Room
CSIS 1800 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006
The Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity Philoptochos honored Archon Michael Psaros, Co-Founder
and Co-Managing Partner of KPS Capital Partners at its 64th Annual Chrysanthemum Ball on November
10 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York City.
The invocation was delivered by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios assisted by Archdeacon Panteleimon
Papadopoulos. The guests were welcomed by Fr. John Vlahos, Dean of the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the
Holy Trinity, Stella Pantelidis, co-chair of the ball and the Cathedral Philoptochos President Dr. Miranda
Kofinas. This year's honoree Michael Psaros was introduced by Maria Marinakis and Maro Stratakis.
Honored guests included Dr. Konstantinos Koutras, Consul General of Greece to New York, and his wife,
Popita Pavli, Ambassador Maria Theophili, Permanent Representative of Greece to the UN, Ambassador
Vasilios Philippou, Consul General of Cyprus to New York, and his wife Anthea, Jennifer Constantine,
Direct Archdiocesan District Philoptochos President, James Gianakis, Archdiocesan Cathedral Board of
Trustees President and Rev. Robert Stephanopoulos, Dean Emeritus of the Cathedral along with
Presvytera Nikki Stephanopoulos.
The Chrysanthemum Ball is the Holy Trinity Archdiocesan Cathedral Philoptochos’ main annual fundraising
event for its charitable activities.
PHOTO: © GOA/GANP/DIMITRIOS PANAGOS-GANP/ΔΗΜΗΤΡΗΣ ΠΑΝΑΓΟΣ
Effective 15 June 2022, Julián Fernández replaced Keld Mosgaard Christensen as Managing Director of APM Terminals Poti, Georgia and joined APM Terminals’ European Regional Leadership Team.
Julian Fernández - MD of APM Terminals PotiMr. Fernández became a member of APM Terminals Poti team in February 2020 in the role of Chief Financial Officer / Deputy MD and therefore has a detailed understanding of the terminal’s business, client base, and the stakeholder landscape.
“I am confident that the experience gained in my previous role, as a member of the APM Terminals Poti senior management team, will be of enormous benefit in driving further growth for the company,” says Mr. Fernández. “Ensuring the sustainable development of the company, empowering and leading people, engaging with stakeholders, as well as driving new investments and expansion plans in Poti, the region and beyond are high on my agenda,” he adds.
Mr. Fernández joined A.P. Moller - Maersk starting in 2001 as a graduate trainee. He holds an MSc in Economics and an MBA with a focus on Investments Appraisals and Valuation. After having worked in both Maersk and Damco in several countries in Europe and Latin America, in December 2011 he moved to APM Terminals Corporate Development, based in Panama. In this role his primary focus was identifying and securing new port and terminal investments in Latin America. From 2014, he became part of the Latin America regional leadership team heading up the Corporate Development activities throughout that region.
In his statement Igor Van Den Essen, Head of Terminals Europe, expressed his gratitude towards Keld Mosgaard Christensen, highlighting his exceptional leadership when the customer became the number one priority at APM Terminals Poti and this was reflected by the significant increase of the terminals NPS score – a measure of customer satisfaction. In addition, under his leadership, the APM Terminals Poti delivered numerous effective CSR projects, all of which are a testament to the company’s commitment to the communities it operates in.
Managed to get out , nothing came close , this was quite pleasing however .
7D Firmware updated , 500mm fitted , camera resurrection
Camera Canon EOS 7D
Exposure 0.001 sec (1/1600)
Aperture f/7.1
Focal Length 700 mm
ISO Speed 640
Exposure Bias +4/3 EV
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde (R) and Director Alejandro Werner (L) hold a joint press conference on the conclusion of the 2016 US Article IV consultation June 22, 2016 at the IMF Headquarters In Washington, DC. IMF Staff Photo/Stephen Jaffe
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva participates in bilateral meeting with President of Zambia Hakainde Hichilema at the State House in Lusaka, Zambia.
IMF Photo/Kim Haughton
23 January 2023
Lusaka, Zambia
Photo ref: KH230123070.jpg
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva participates in a Presidential Panel at the Three Seas Initiative Summit in Sofia, Bulgaria.
IMF Photo/Hristo Rusev
08 July 2021
Sofia, Bulgaria
Photo ref: HHR03260.jpg
I managed to get a few shots of Thomas learning to walk. This is the X100s shooting into a very backlit scene. Exp Comp was on +2. The AF worked much better than I was expecting and the hit rate was pretty impressive.
Technically this photo is not that good. However, I am quite satisfied with the scene I captured, so I am still posting it.
No kill this time... The warthog made two turns. The lion managed the first one well, but the second one made the distance too big.
Session 5: Managing Capital Flows
This session will focus on the challenges in the region associated with the normalization of U.S. and other advanced economy monetary conditions, including ongoing and possible spillovers to Asia, appropriate policies to be implemented by spillover-receiving countries, and the possible role for international policy coordination in ameliorating the negative impact of volatile capital flows. Key themes to be addressed include: How EM policy makers can prepare for / cope with financial volatility associated with asynchronous AE monetary policy stances. Experience with macroprudential policies and their potential role in managing capital flows. Regional insurance mechanisms, and their role in containing contagion from financial turbulence. Past experience of the IMF in facilitating coordination of macro-financial policies among key economies and possible ways forward.
Moderator:
Maurice Obstfeld, Economic Counsellor and Head of Research Department, IMF
Panelists:
Sukudhew Singh, Deputy Governor, Bank Negara Malaysia
In-chang Song, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Finance and Strategy, Korea
Yiping Huang, Professor, National School of Development, Peking University
Chatib Basri, Former Minister of Finance of Indonesia and Senior Lecturer Department of Economics University of Indonesia
Eswar Prasad, Professor of Economics, Cornell University
Left to Right Governor Martowardojo, Bank of Indonesia, Allen Harai, Chairman AICC, Dr.Basri, Minister of Finance, Indonesia, Deputy Chairman Kurniadi, BKPM, Ian Lifshitz, NA Director of Sustainability, Asia Pulp Paper.
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva leaves the Arsenale to take part in a G20 cultural program and dinner at Teatro La Fenice
IMF Photo/Silvia Longhi
10 July 2021
Venice, Italy
Photo ref: G20_sat10-4618.jpg
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva rehearses her IMFC Plenary speech at the International Monetary Fund.
IMF Photo/Cory Hancock
20 April 2022
Washington, DC, United States
Photo ref: CH220420118.arw
Managed to capture this railway track just before it was dismantled 2 months ago.
PP: Mild HDR.
Camera used: Sony DSLR Alpha 850.
Lens: SAL 50mm F1.4.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde (L) is greeted by Finance Minister Dinh Tien Dung (R) of Vietnam at the Ministry’s office March 16, 2016 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Lagarde is on a three day visit to Vietnam. IMF Staff Photo/Stephen Jaffe
Managing to shine on a mighty dreich day, Scotlee Transports F16 - 2013 HIGHLAND COMMERCIAL RUN - DALMORE 4th May
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde (C) is greeted by Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Tan Dung (L) as Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Thi Hong (R) looks on at the Prime Minister's Meeting Room March 16, 2016 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Lagarde is spending three days in Vietnam. IMF Staff Photo/Stephen Jaffe
The Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity Philoptochos honored Archon Michael Psaros, Co-Founder
and Co-Managing Partner of KPS Capital Partners at its 64th Annual Chrysanthemum Ball on November
10 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York City.
The invocation was delivered by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios assisted by Archdeacon Panteleimon
Papadopoulos. The guests were welcomed by Fr. John Vlahos, Dean of the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the
Holy Trinity, Stella Pantelidis, co-chair of the ball and the Cathedral Philoptochos President Dr. Miranda
Kofinas. This year's honoree Michael Psaros was introduced by Maria Marinakis and Maro Stratakis.
Honored guests included Dr. Konstantinos Koutras, Consul General of Greece to New York, and his wife,
Popita Pavli, Ambassador Maria Theophili, Permanent Representative of Greece to the UN, Ambassador
Vasilios Philippou, Consul General of Cyprus to New York, and his wife Anthea, Jennifer Constantine,
Direct Archdiocesan District Philoptochos President, James Gianakis, Archdiocesan Cathedral Board of
Trustees President and Rev. Robert Stephanopoulos, Dean Emeritus of the Cathedral along with
Presvytera Nikki Stephanopoulos.
The Chrysanthemum Ball is the Holy Trinity Archdiocesan Cathedral Philoptochos’ main annual fundraising
event for its charitable activities.
PHOTO: © GOA/GANP/DIMITRIOS PANAGOS-GANP/ΔΗΜΗΤΡΗΣ ΠΑΝΑΓΟΣ
And here is the progress of today's work on the puzzle.
Made the most important thing of the puzzle - the Aries panel. :))))))
With the help of the second row of column pieces managed to finish the border. Have to double check it in the morning on proper light.
Fire moves slowly through pine needles and other forest litter. The Sitgreaves Fire Complex was being managed for resource benefit. Williams district. 7-31-14. Photo by Wade Ward. Credit the U.S. Forest Service, Southwestern Region, Kaibab National Forest.
International Symposium on Managing Land and Water for Climate-Smart Agriculture held at the Agency headquarters in Vienna, Austria. 25 July 2022
Photo Credit: Dean Calma / IAEA
British Award for African Development (BRAAD) Award Nominations Event and Launch of Africa Entrepreneurship Week at the prestigious London Waldorf Hilton Hotel London with Lexy Owusu-Boahene Managing Director LXHR Solutions HR Consultancy Recruitment Accra Ghana
Effective 15 June 2022, Julián Fernández replaced Keld Mosgaard Christensen as Managing Director of APM Terminals Poti, Georgia and joined APM Terminals’ European Regional Leadership Team.
Julian Fernández - MD of APM Terminals PotiMr. Fernández became a member of APM Terminals Poti team in February 2020 in the role of Chief Financial Officer / Deputy MD and therefore has a detailed understanding of the terminal’s business, client base, and the stakeholder landscape.
“I am confident that the experience gained in my previous role, as a member of the APM Terminals Poti senior management team, will be of enormous benefit in driving further growth for the company,” says Mr. Fernández. “Ensuring the sustainable development of the company, empowering and leading people, engaging with stakeholders, as well as driving new investments and expansion plans in Poti, the region and beyond are high on my agenda,” he adds.
Mr. Fernández joined A.P. Moller - Maersk starting in 2001 as a graduate trainee. He holds an MSc in Economics and an MBA with a focus on Investments Appraisals and Valuation. After having worked in both Maersk and Damco in several countries in Europe and Latin America, in December 2011 he moved to APM Terminals Corporate Development, based in Panama. In this role his primary focus was identifying and securing new port and terminal investments in Latin America. From 2014, he became part of the Latin America regional leadership team heading up the Corporate Development activities throughout that region.
In his statement Igor Van Den Essen, Head of Terminals Europe, expressed his gratitude towards Keld Mosgaard Christensen, highlighting his exceptional leadership when the customer became the number one priority at APM Terminals Poti and this was reflected by the significant increase of the terminals NPS score – a measure of customer satisfaction. In addition, under his leadership, the APM Terminals Poti delivered numerous effective CSR projects, all of which are a testament to the company’s commitment to the communities it operates in.
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva participates in the G20 family photo at the Fontana di Trevi.
IMF Photo/Giuseppe Nucci
31 October 2021
Rome, Italy
Photo ref: G20 - IMF -31th October - HD with captions-22.jpg
The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, will today begin her three day visit to Rwanda, her first since she came to the helm of the institution in 2011. In an e-mail correspondence with The New Times’ Kenneth Agutamba, Lagarde sheds light on her institution’s current relationship with Rwanda and commends the country’s transformative and inclusive policies that have seen a significant decline in poverty levels.
You come here 20 years after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. In your view, what has been the trigger for Rwanda’s rapid economic renaissance?
My main message to Rwanda is that “Good policies pay off.” Let me set this in a broader context by saying that I am very happy to have the opportunity to visit Rwanda at such a pivotal moment in its history. The horrific events that occurred 20 years ago tore the social and economic fabric of the country, and it is uplifting to see the progress in rebuilding, in peace efforts, and in improving the welfare of all Rwandans.
This truly is an example in terms of social and economic transformation. It proves that effective policies and inclusive growth can be transformational.
The economic performance has been remarkable, with strong annual growth for the past 15 years. This has helped Rwanda make progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The poorest have benefited from a focus on inclusive growth, with the poverty rate falling to 45 per cent of the population in 2011 from 60 per cent in 2000.
Of course, this rate is still high, but it is definite progress and we see the trend continuing. So, while there has not been a magic bullet or a single trigger, a holistic approach, that also included a focus on the agricultural sector, employment, and gender equality, has been instrumental in sharing the fruits of high growth more widely.
What is the status of IMF relations in Rwanda at present?
We have a very close economic policy dialogue and the IMF is currently supporting the government with a Policy Support Instrument (PSI) – designed for low-income countries that have graduated from financial support but still seek to maintain a close policy dialogue.
The PSI signals the strength of a country’s policies to donors, multilateral development banks, and markets. We also provide technical assistance as part of the Fund’s efforts to increase local capacity and know-how. We have an office in Kigali, where a resident representative, currently Mitra Farahbaksh, ensures our presence in the field.
Rwanda’s PSI, which is in its second year, supports Rwanda’s own policy priorities for strong and inclusive growth, with an emphasis on domestic resource mobilization, private sector development, export diversification, regional integration, and financial sector development.
We recently reviewed this programme and welcomed the country’s continued strong performance. We also agreed with the government that more work needs to be done to further reduce Rwanda’s reliance on aid and increase its resilience to external shocks.
What is your economic outlook for the country between now and 2020?
Our outlook for Rwanda is positive. The economy is recovering from a weak performance in agriculture and delays in related project implementation in recent years. Growth rebounded last year and inflation remains well contained. We expect GDP growth rates to rise gradually towards 7-7.5 per cent in the medium term, while inflation remains within the medium-term target of 5 per cent.
I am particularly impressed with the government’s continued commitment to poverty reduction.
As part of my stay here, I will be visiting the Agaseke Handicraft Cooperative and the ICT hub (knowledge Lab) in Kigali to see firsthand how the government has managed to improve the welfare of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups such as women and youth.
As your readers are aware, the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy for 2013–18 focuses on economic transformation, rural development, and youth employment. The strategy is rightly aimed at further reducing poverty.
I think that the continued rollout of planned measures and the successful inclusion of the private sector in leading economic development will help make sizeable inroads in making growth even more inclusive and in reducing inequality.
In a recent advisory by the IMF Board, they encouraged Rwanda to widen its tax base and put emphasis on domestic revenue sourcing. What is your advice on this?
We are devoting a significant portion of our technical assistance to support Rwanda’s efforts to reduce its dependence on foreign aid. The focus is appropriately on widening the tax base – not higher taxes, but all paying a fair share.
The government has already made significant progress in the areas of revenue administration.
The push to increase the number of registered VAT payers through the introduction of electronic billing machines, and the switch in the collection of local taxes and fees from the local governments to the revenue authority, should be useful in bringing more businesses under the tax system.
The introduction of tax regimes for agriculture and mining, and improvements in property taxation, should also help achieve the goal of providing budgetary resources for key expenditures, particularly those aimed at scaling up social spending and infrastructure in a context where donor resources are likely to be limited.
Lately, Rwanda has taken to raising money through bonds, do you think this is viable?
Rwanda’s successful Euro-bond issuance in 2013 demonstrated that market financing can play a complementary role in financing investment plans. Several other African countries have followed suit over the past year.
The key is to ensure that Rwanda’s debt remains sustainable. I welcome the government’s commitment to fully explore concessional financing options and private sector participation before considering the use of non-concessional resources.
At the same time, the government’s decision to begin issuing domestic currency bonds in 2014 was an important step in the process of developing and deepening local capital markets.
www.newtimes.co.rw/section/article/2015-01-26/185319/
Creating jobs remains a high priority for this country, but as you know the private sector is also still young. What should Rwanda do to address these two issues?
On private sector development, Rwanda’s potential depends critically on full implementation of ongoing reforms to attract foreign investment and boost exports. These include reducing the cost of doing business; improving infrastructure; supporting skills development; and tapping into regional markets.
The increased provision of lower-cost electricity and improved transportation should help facilitate diversification and business development.
On creating jobs, the government has identified three key priorities: skills development, the fostering of entrepreneurship for small- and medium-sized enterprises, and supporting household enterprises. We at the Fund share this emphasis on building the capacity of Africa’s greatest resource–its people. Increased investment in infrastructure can help put people to work.
The IMF’s latest Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa projects regional GDP growth to pick up from about 5 per cent in 2013/14 to 5.75 per cent in 2015. That isn’t a big leap, is it? Can you elaborate on this?
Sub-Saharan Africa has made impressive progress over the past two decades, with growth averaging around 5 per cent. We expect that to continue in 2015, despite the impact of lower oil prices on some of Africa’s major oil exporting economies.
So there has been real progress, as growth has allowed for reducing poverty and improving living conditions.
For example, the number of people living on less than $1.25 a day in Africa has fallen significantly since 1990. But extreme poverty remains unacceptably high and not all countries are making progress. Some countries are still facing internal conflict and/or fragility.
Looking ahead, there are a number of longer-term demographic, technological and environmental challenges that need to be addressed in order to realise the ‘big leap’ that you refer to.
For instance, how can we tap into the productive capacity of Africa’s youth? How can Africa take advantage of technological innovation?
And how can we address the implications of climate change? Three broad policy priorities are crucial: building infrastructure, building institutions, and building people. Africa must also strengthen its institutional and governance frameworks to better manage its vast resources.
But the focus must be on people—with programmes aimed at boosting health and education and other essential social services. In fact, Rwanda is one of the countries that are effectively implementing policies in many of these areas.
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has dealt a major blow to several African economies in the region. Can the effects of this blow spread to other parts of the continent?
The Ebola outbreak is a severe human, social and economic crisis that requires a resolute response. And the focus must be on isolating the virus, not the countries.
Strong efforts are underway in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, but it is unlikely to be brought under control before the second half of 2015.
The economic outlook for these countries has already worsened since September, when the IMF disbursed $130 million to the (three) countries to boost their response to the outbreak.
If the outbreak remains limited to the three countries, the economic outlook for the rest of sub-Saharan Africa remains favourable. Some neighbouring countries like The Gambia have seen an impact on tourism.
We are working with the governments of the three affected countries to provide additional interest-free financing of about $160 million, and expect our Board to make a decision in the next few days.
Following the endorsement by the G-20 leaders in Australia, we are also looking at further options to provide additional support to the Ebola-hit countries, including through the provision of donor-supported debt relief.
International oil prices have been tumbling, is this good for Rwanda and the other members of the EAC?
Indeed, oil prices have fallen recently, affecting both oil producers and consumers. Overall, we see the price decline as positive for the global economy. As an oil importer, Rwanda and indeed the East Africa region should benefit given that lower prices will most likely have a positive impact on growth whilst also easing inflation.
Countries can make use of this window of opportunity to reduce universal energy subsidies and use the savings toward more targeted transfers that benefit the poor.
Recently, the East African Community, a regional bloc to which Rwanda subscribes, reached a landmark Economic Partnership agreement (Epa) with Europe. Do you think that these countries need such agreements?
The EPA is designed to enhance commercial and economic relations, supporting a new trading dynamic in the region and deepening cooperation in trade and investment. It can serve as an important instrument of development in many respects.
It can promote sustained growth, increase the productive capacity of EAC economies, foster diversification and competitiveness, and, of course, boost trade, investment and employment. Rwanda is a key member of the EAC that has worked hard to create a conducive and transparent business environment. So it should benefit from this agreement.