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Biographies (prepared by the G20 Research Group)

Argentina

Carlos Fernández became Minister of Economy and Production for Argentina in April 2008.  He replaced Martin Lousteau who resigned after less than five months in office. Prior to becoming economic minister, Fernandez was head of the Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos (AFIP), the Federal Public Income Administration or national tax agency. He also served as the economy minister for the province of Buenos Aires. For the national government, he held the positions of economy subsecretary for relations with the provinces and national director of tax coordination with the provinces. He also worked as subsecretary of fiscal policy in Buenos Aires. He has a degree in economics from La Plata National University, and specialized in public finance and tax administration. This will be his first G20 meeting.

Martín Redrado was appointed Governor of the Central Bank of Argentina in September, 2004. Between 2002 and 2004 he acted as Secretary for Trade and International economic Relations. From 1994 to 2001 Redrado served as Chief Economist of Fundación Capital, an institution which he founded that is devoted to economic research and public policy design. In 1991 he was appointed President of the National Securities Commission. He was elected chair of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) Emerging Market Committee. In 1996 Redrado was invited to take the position of Secretary of State of the Ministry of Education’s Technological Education Area. He began his professional career working as a member of Jeffrey Sach’s team on the Bolivian stabilization program and later held a number of positions for various companies in the United States He received his MA in Public Administration from Harvard University. This will be his fifth G20 meeting.

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Australia

Wayne Swan was appointed Treasurer of Australia on December 3, 2007. In 1993, he was elected to the House of Representatives for Lilley, Queensland. Although he was defeated at general elections, he was re-elected 4 times in the consecutive terms following. Previous parliamentary party positions he held since 1998 are Manager of the Opposition Business in the House, and Member of Opposition Shadow Ministry, and Shadow Minister for Family and Community Services. Prior to his current position as Treasurer he was the Shadow Treasurer for three years. He was born on June 30, 1954 in Nambour, Queensland. Prior to his work in Parliament he received his BA and was a lecturer at Queensland Institute of Technology for multiple years between 1976 until 1988. He was a policy analyst, at the Office of Youth Affairs in 1978. He is married to Kim Swan. They have three children. This will be Wayne Swan’s first G20 meeting as Treasurer.

Glen Stevens was appointed Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia in September 2006 for a seven-year term. After serving multiple positions in the Bank prior to 1990 he became a Visiting Scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco holding positions of Head of the Economic Analysis Department; Head of the International Department; and Assistant Governor (Economic) from 1996 until 2001 before he became Deputy Governor in December 2001. He was born in 1958 in Sydney, Australia. He completed a BA in Economics with first class honours at the University of Sydney in 1979, and a Masters degree at the University of Western Ontario. This will be his third G20 meeting as Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

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Brazil (host)

Guido Mantega became Brazil’s finance minister on March 27, 2006, replacing Antônio Palocci. He was introduced into political life alongside President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2003. He served as minister for planning until November 2004. Afterwards President Silva appointed him to the position of president to the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES). He was a member of the Coordination of the Economic Program for the Brazilian Labor Party in the presidential elections of 1984, 1989 and 1998. He has been Economic advisor for President Silva since 1993. He was director of the Budget and Head of the Office of the Municipal Department of Planning of São Paulo from 1982 to 1992. He was also Director of Petroleo Brasileiro and spent some time as a Professor of Economics in the School of Business Administration of Fundacão Getúlio Vargas. Born April 7, 1949 in Genoa Italy, Mantega graduated in Economics from the University of Sao Paulo, College of Economics and Business Administration. He obtained his PhD in Development Sociology at the University of Sao Paulo, specializing at Sussex University's Institute of Development Countries (IDS), in England, in 1977. This will be Mantega’s third G20 meeting and first time as host.

Henrique de Campos Meirelles has held the position of Central Bank Governor of Brazil since January 2003. Previous to that he served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Council of the Americas in New York. He was a member of the Advisory Board of the Brazilian Mercantile and Futures Exchange in São Paulo. He was chair of the American Chamber of Commerce in São Paulo. He served a president of various companies and banks including BankBoston in Brazil and the Brazilian Association of International Banks. He has served as a member of various academic boards and councils including the Dean’s Advisory Council of the Sloan School of Management in Cambridge, Massachusetts and the Advisory Board of the Center for Latin American Issues at the George Washington University in Washington, DC. Born August 31, 1945 in Anápolis-G0, Brazil, he received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from São Paolo University in 1972, a Master’s of Business Administration from Federation University of Rio de Janeiro in 1974. He also attended the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School in 1984 and received an Honorary Degree from Bryant College in Smithfield Rhode Island in 1997.

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Canada

Jim Flaherty was appointed minister of finance on February 6, 2006. He was elected to the House of Parliament in January 2006 as the representative for Whitby-Oshawa, Ontario. Prior to serving as a Canadian member of parliament, he served as a member of Ontario’s provincial legislature for Whitby-Ajax from 1995 to 2005. During his time as an Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) he held posts which included Deputy Minister of Finance, Attorney General, Minister responsible for Native Affairs, Minister of Labour, Solicitor General, Minister of Correctional Services and Minister of Enterprise, Opportunity and Innovation. Born 30 December 1949 in Lachine, Quebec, he graduated with a bachelor of arts from Princeton University and received a degree in law from Osgoode Hall Law School. Before entering into politics, he practiced law for more than twenty years. He is married to Christine Flaherty. They have triplet sons. This will be finance minister Jim Flaherty’s third G20 meeting.

Mark Carney was appointed Governor of the Bank of Canada effective 1 February 2008 for a seven year term. He served as Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada from August 2003 until his appointment as Senior Associate Deputy Minister of Finance in November 2004. During his time in the Department of Finance, he served as Canada’s finance deputy at the G7, G20 and the Financial Stability Forum (FSF). Prior to these positions, he worked for Goldman Sachs. During his time there his many positions included Co-Head of Sovereign Risk, executive Director for emerging Debt Capital Markets and Managing Director for Investment Banking. Born 16 March 1965 in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard University and received his master’s and doctorate in economics from Oxford University. He is married to Diana Carney. They have four daughters. This will be his first G20 meeting as Bank of Canada Governor.

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China

Xie Xuren was appointed Minister of Finance in August 2007. He was the Director of Investment Office, Director of Comprehenive Planning Office and then the Deputy Commissioner of Planning and Economic Commission of Zhejiang Province from 1986 to 1990. Between 1990 and 1995 his many positions included Deputy Director-General of Budget Department, Director-General of Comprehensive Planning Department, Director-General of Policy and Reform Department, and then he was the Assistant Minister of Finance. He became the Vice Minister of Minister of Finance in 1995. In 1998 he served as the President of Agriculture Development Bank of China. In 2000 he became the Deputy Commissioner of State Economic and Trade Commission. From March 2003 until appointed to his current position he was the Minister of State Administration of Taxation. He was born in October 1947 in Ningbo of Zhejiang Province. He is a college graduate in industrial economics from Zhejiang University. This will be his second G20 meeting as minister of finance.

Zhou Xiaochuan was appointed Governor of the People’s Bank of China in December 2002. In 1991 he was appointed Vice President of the Bank of China and held this position for four years. He then became an Administrator for the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. He then moved into the position of Deputy Governor of PBC and Administrator of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange from October 1996 until February 1998. Prior to his position as Governor of the China Construction Bank he served as chair of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Since being Governor he has also taken on the role as chair of the Monetary Policy Committee of the People’s Bank of China. He was born in 1948. He graduated from Beijing Chemical Engineering Institute in 1975 and received his PhD from Tsinghua University in 1985. This will be his sixth G20 meeting as Governor of the People’s Bank of China.

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France

Christine Lagarde was appointed Minister of Finance in June 2007. She was previously Minister of Trade in the Dominique de Villepin government and Minister of Agriculture and Fishing in the government of François Fillon. Prior to working in government she joined Baker & McKenzie law firm in 1981 later to be appointed Managing Partner of the Paris office in 1987. In 1999 she was elected chair and reelected to this position in 2002. She has been recipient of France’s highest honour, the Légion d’honneur. She was born on January 1, 1956 in Paris. She graduated at the Law School of University of Paris X: Nanterre. She has also completed a post-graduate diploma in labour law, and a MA in English. This will be her second G20 meeting as Minister of Finance.

Christian Noyer was appointed Governor of the Banque de France on November 1, 2003. Following his military service as an officer in the Navy he was appointed to the Treasury in the Ministry of the Economy of Finance in 1976. At the treasury he held a range of positions dealing with both domestic and international affairs. In 1993 he was appointed Head of the Treasury and held Chief of Staff for two other Ministers of Finance in 1993, and 1995 to 1997. In 1998 be was appointed Vice-President of the European Central Bank until 2002. He has been awarded the Officier de la Légion d’Honneur and Ordre National du Mérite in France as well as multiple decorations from other countries. He was born in 1950 near Paris. He studied law at Rennes and Paris and subsequently graduated from the Institut d’études politiques de Paris, and later studied at école nationale d’administration. This will be his fifth G20 meeting as Governor.

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Germany

Peer Steinbrück became Minister of Finance for Germany on November 22, 2005. Prior to this he served as Minister-President of Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia from 2002 to 2005. He served as finance minister of that same area from 2000 to 2002 and Minister of Economy from 1998 to 2000. From 1993 to 1998 he was Minister of the Economy of Schleswig-Holstein. Born January 10, 1947, Steinbrük studied economics and social sciences in Kiel. Steinbrück has participated in two G20 meetings, but he will be represented by Jörg Asmussen at the 2008 meeting.

Jörg Asmussen became state secretary at the ministry of finance in July 2008. His many previous positions include head of the minister’s office and private secretary to the minister of finance, private secretary to the state secretary and head of directorate-general for finance market policy. Previous to his time in government he worked as a project manager in the field of European economic, social and labour market policy. He is chair the administrative council of Germany’s federal finance supervisory authority, an alternative governor at the World Bank and at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and a member of the Financial Stability Forum. Born in Flensburg in 1966, Asmussen studied economics at the University of Gießen and later received his master’s degree in business administration from Bocconi University. This will be his first G20 meeting representing the German minister of finance.

Axel Alfred Weber was appointed President of the Deutsche Bundesbank in April 30, 2004. In 1994 after passing his Habilitation qualification he began working as a Professor at the University of Bonn moving to JW Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main in 1998 where he remains a member of the Advisors’ Board.  During his time at Frankfurt am Main he became the Director of the Center for Financial Studies. In 2001 he became Professor of International Economics at the University of Cologne. He served as a Member of the German Council of Economic Experts from 2002 to 2004 while he was also a Member of the Expert Advisory panel to the Deutsche Bundesbank from October 2002. He also currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Bank of International Settlements. He was born on March 8, 1957. In 1982 he graduated from studying economics and public administration at the University of Konstanz, which was followed by completing a teaching diploma. This will be his fifth G20 meeting as President of the Deutsche Bundesbank.

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India

Shri Palaniappan Chidambaram was appointed Minister of Finance of India in May 2004 after previously being appointed from June 1996 to March 1998. He was first elected to the lower house of the Indian Parliament in 1984 from Sivaganaga in Tamil Nadu in southern India. He has represented the same constituency continuously except a brief period between 1999 and 2004, and was re-elected five times. He was inducted into the Union Council of Ministers in September 1985 and served multiple positions including but not limited to Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Minister of State for Internal Security in the Minister of Home Affairs, and Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and was re-appointed to this position in 1995. He received a Bachelor of Law degree at Law College at Madras University. He then attended the Harvard Business School and completed his Masters in Business Administration. He is a lawyer by profession primarily focusing on constitutional and corporate law. He is married to Nalini Chidambaram. They have one son. This will be his fifth G20 meeting as the Finance Minister of India.

Yaga Venugopal Reddy was appointed Governor of the Reserve Bank of India on September 3, 2003 for a five-year term. He was an officer of the Indian Administrative Service in 1964 and spent most of his career working in the areas of finance and planning at both the State and Central level. He has also been an Adviser at the World Bank and he is on the International Monetary Fund’s panel of consultants for fiscal affairs. Prior to his appointment as Governor, beginning in September 1996 he served six years as Deputy Governor for the Reserve Bank of India. In August 2002 he accepted the position of India’s Exectutive Director to the International Monetary Fund. He has also been a visiting fellow in the International Relations Department at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a full-time UGC visiting professor at Osmania University as well as Administrative Staff College of India. This will be his sixth G20 meeting as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

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Indonesia

Sri Mulyani Indrawati was appointed Minister of Finance in December 2005. In 2006, she was honoured as the Best Finance Minister in Asia by the Emerging Market Forum, and was given the title ‘Finance Minister of the Year’ by the magazine Euromoney. She is the Governor for Indonesia in the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, and the World Bank. She was Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund for the South East Asia group constituency from 2002 to 2004, representing twelve economies. She was Minister of State for National Development Planning and Chairperson of the National Development Planning Agency from 2004 to 2005. In 2001 she served as a consulttant with the U.S. Aid Agency USAID working on programs to strengthen Indonesia’s autonomy. She has also lecutred at a number of institutions, including Georgia University. Born August 26, 1962 in Tanjungkarang, Lampung, Mulyani received her doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This will be her third G20 meeting.

Boediono became Governor for Bank Indonesia on May 22, 2008, replacing Burhanuddin Abdullah. His term will last until 2013, when he will have a chance to be re-installed for a second term.  Prior to his position of Governor, he served as Bank Indonesia’s deputy governor in charge of fiscal monetary policy. He served as Minister of finance from 2001 to 2004 and he was state minister for National Planning and Development. He has lectured at Gadjah Mada University and has written a number of text books on economic theory and monetary policy. Born February 25, 1943, Boediono received his Bachelor of Economics from the University of Western Australia in 1967. He went on to receive his Master of Economics from Monash University in Australia in 1972 and his PhD in business economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1979. This will be his first G20 meeting as Central Bank Governor.

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Italy

Giulio Tremonti became Italian Minister of Economy and Finance on May 8, 2008. He served as Minsiter of Economy and Finance on a number of other occassions, including from June 11, 2001 to July 3, 2004, September 22, 2005 to May 4, 2006 and from May 1994 to January 1995 he was Italy’s Finance Minister. He first ran for office in 1987 was first elected as a member of Italian Parliament in 1994. He has served as vice president of Forza Italia and vice president of the Chamber of Deputies from 2006 to 2008. He was vice chair of the Council of Minister from April 2005 to May 2006. Tremonti has also been a University professor since 1974 and is currently professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Pavia. He has also been a visiting professor at the Institute of Comparative Law, Oxford. Born August 18, 1947, Tremontini received his education fro the University of Pavia. This will be his fifth G20 meeting.
Mario Draghi became Governor of the Bank of Italy on January 16, 2006. He was appointed for a six-year term which will end in 2012. He is a member of the Governing and General Councils of the European Central Bank and a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements. He is also governor for Italy on the Boards of Governors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Asian Development Bank. In April 2006 he was elected chair of the Financial Stability Forum. Prior to taking the helm of the Bank of Italy, he was vice chair and managing director of Goldman Sachs International and a member of the firm-wide management committee from 2002 to 2005. He was director general of the Italian Treasury from 1991 to 2001, chair of the European Economic and Financial Committee, a member of the G7 Deputies, and chair of OECD Working Party 3. He was appointed chair of the Italian Committee for Privatisations in 1993, and, from 1984 to 1990, was an executive director of the World Bank. Born September 3, 1947, Draghi graduated from the University of Rome, received his Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He and his wife live in Rome, Italy. This will be his second G20 meeting as Central Bank Governor.

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Japan

Fukushiro Nukaga was appointed Minister of Finance in August 2007. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1983 with eight re-elections. Within the House of Representatives he has held many roles including Parliamentary Vice Minister of International Trade and Industry; Chief Whip in the Standing Committee on Commerce and Industry; Chief Whip in the Standing Committee on Rules and Administration; and chair of the Standing Committee on Finance. He was appointed Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary in 1997 and was re-appointed this position in 1999. In 2000 he served as the Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy and Information Technology. He has held many positions within the Liberal Democratic Party including but limited to Director of House Affairs Division; Deputy Chair in the Policy Research Council; and Deputy Chair of the Diet Affairs Committee. He is born on January 11, 1944 in Ibaraki Prefecture. He graduated from the faculty of Political Science and Economics from Waseda University. This will be his second G20 meeting as Minister of Finance.

Masaaki Shirakawa was appointed Governor of the Bank of Japan on April 9, 2008. He joined the Bank of Japan in 1972 holding positions including Director, Head of Financial System; Director, Head of Planning Division Policy Planning Office; and General Manager for the Americas. In 1997 he became the Deputy Director-General for the International Department as well as the Advisor to the Governor Credit and Market Management Department. In 2000 he took over the position of Adviser to the Governor at the Policy Planning Office. He became the Executive Director of the Bank of Japan in 2002. He worked as a Professor at the Kyoto University School of Government in 2006 before serving as the Deputy Governor of the Bank in March 2008. He was born on September 27, 1949. He has received a BA in Economics from the University of Tokyo in 1972 and a MA in Economics from the University of Chicago in 1977. This will be his first G20 meeting as Bank of Japan Governor.

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Korea

Man-Soo Kang was appointed Minister of Strategy and Finance in February 2008. In 1970 he joined the Senior Government Service working for fincila and fiscal affairs as Director-General of Finance, International Finance and Assistant Minister for Tac and Customs in the Ministry of Finance while also serving as Fincial Attache of the Korean Embassy to the US. He later worked for the promotion of trade and industrial developmet as Commissioner of Customs Service and Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy. After 28 years of civil service he became the Executive Vice Chair of Korea International Trade Association and Chair of Digital Economy Institute, as well as President of the Seoul Developmet Institute, a thinktank for the Seoul Metropolitan Government. He completed a BA in law at Seoul National University and received a Master’s degree in Economics from New York University. This will be his first G20 meeting as Minister of Strategy and Finance.

Lee Seongtae was appointed Governor of The Bank of Korea in April 2006. After joining The Bank in 1968 he has held many positions in various departments including but not limited to Deputy General Manager of the Pusan Branch; Deputy Director of the Monetary Policy Department; General Manager of the Changwon Branch; Director of Public Information; Director of Support Services and Properties Department; Director of Budget and Management Department; and Director of Research. He served as Assistant Governor from 2000 to 2003 when he became the Deputy Governor. He was continued his role while also becoming a Member of the Monetary Policy Committee in 2004. He was born on June 20, 1945. He completed his BA in Business Administration from Seoul National University in 1968, and received his MA in Economics from University of Illinois in 1988. This will be his third G20 meeting as Governor.

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Mexico

Agustín Carstens became Secretary of Finance for Mexico on December 1, 2006. Previous to this he served as Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund from. Before this he was Mexico’s Deputy Secretary of Finance. From 1999-2000, he served as an Executive Director at the IMF, after a career at the Central Bank of México, where his positions included those of Director General, Economic Research and Chief of Staff in the Governor's office. In addition, he has been an organizer of the United Nations Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey and of meetings of the Group of 20, and has served as Alternate Governor for Mexico at the InterAmerican Development Bank and the World Bank. He has published various articles. Born in 1958 in Mexico City, Carstens received his PhD in 1985 and his MA in 1983 in Economics from the University of Chicago. He received his BA in Economics from Tecnológico Autónomo de México in 1982. This will be his second G20 meeting as finance minister of Mexico.

Guillermo Oritz Martínez assumed the position of Governor of the Bank of Mexico on January 1, 1998. He was reelected for a second six-year term in 2004. In 1999 he became a member of the Washington-based financial advisory body, the Group of Thirty. He served as Secretary of Communication and Transportation for a short term under the Secillo government and in 1994 he was appointed Secretary of Finance and Public Credit. He has served as Mexico’s ambassador to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and while at the IMF he acted as executive director and represented seven countries. Born July 21, 1948 in Mexico City, he received a BA in Economics from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and a MSc and a PhD in Economics from Stanford University. He is married to Margie Simon and has three daughters. This will be his tenth G20 meeting.

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Russia

Alexei Kudrin was appointed Minister of Finance on May 18, 2000. He served three years he worked as Deputy, First Deputy Mayor, member of City government and chair of the Economy and Finances committee for the city of St. Petersburg. He was appointed Deputy Chief of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, and Chief of the Administration on Trade, Economic and Scientific-Technological Cooperation in 1996. Prior to his appointment of Minister of Finance he became First Deputy Finance Minister of Russian Federation  in 1997 and reappointed to this position in 1999. During his time as Minister of Finance he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in September 2007 and reappointed to both positions in May 2008. He was born on October 12, 1960 in Dobele, Latvia. He graduated from the Faculty of Economics at Leningrad State University in 1983 and began graduate studies in 1985 at the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. This will be his ninth G20 meeting as Minister of Finance.

Sergey M. Ignatiev was appointed chair of the Bank of Russia in March 2002 and was reappointed on November 16, 2005. He was appointed Deputy Minister of Economics and Finance in 1991, then Deputy Minister of Finance one year later. He served as the Deputy Chair of the Bank of Russia in 1992 prior to serving three years as the Deputy Minister of Economics. He was the aide on economic issues to the President of Russia in 1996 then became the First Deputy Minister of Finance until he took on his current position in 2002. He was born on January 10, 1948 in Leningrad. He is married and speaks english. In 1975 he graduated from the economics faculty of the M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MGU) and completed his post-graduate course at the MGU economics faculty in 1978. This will be his seventh G20 meeting as the chair of the Bank of Russia.

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Saudi Arabia

Ibrahim Abulaziz Al-Assaf was appointed Minister of Finance and National Economy in January 1996. He served as Economic Advisor for Saudi Fund for Development in Riyadh, and from 1984 to 1986. He then became the Alternative Executive Director of IMF for Saudi Arabia in Washington D.C. until 1989 when he served as Executive Director of the World Bank for Saudi Arabia in Washington D.C.. During his time as Executive Director he took on many other roles on various committees until 1995. He was born on January 28, 1949 in Ayoun Al-Jawa, Qassim, Saudi Arabia. He is married and has four children. He graduated with a BA in economics and political science at King Saud Univeristy in 1971. He received his Master degree in economics from the Univeristy of Denver in 1976 and completed his PhD in economics at Colorado State University in 1982. This will be his tenth G20 meeting as Minister of Finance and National Economy.

Hamad Al-Sayari was appointed Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency on April 14, 1983. He is also chair of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency as well as a Member of the Board of the Public Investment Fund, Gulf Investment Corporation, and of the Supreme Economic Council. After his time teaching economics at the Institute of Public Administration in Riyadh, he became Secretary General of the Public Investment Fun as well as Director General of the Saudi Industrial Development Fund. He later became Vice-Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency leading up to his current positions. He was born in 1941. He completed his MA in Economics at the Univerisity of Maryland. This will be his tenth G20 meeting as Governor.

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South Africa

Trevor Andrew Manuel was appointed Minister of Finance of the Republic of South Africa on April 4, 1996. In 1994 he was appointed to the Advisory Committee of the UN Initiative for Trade Efficiency as well as Governor on the Board of the World Bank for the African Development Bank Group and Development Bank of Southern Africa while he served two years as the Minister of Trade and Industry. From 2001 until 2005 he served as Chair of the Development Committee of the World Bank. In 2003 he was appointed as Commissioner in the International Task Force on Global Public Goods. In 2004 he served as Commissioner in the Commission for Africa for one year, then for the Commission on Growth and Development from 2006 until 2008. He was then appointed Special Envoy for development finance by the UN Secretary General. He was born on Janurary 31, 1956. He received a National Diploma in Civil and Structural Engineering from Peninsula Technikon, and completed the Executive Management Programme at Stanford National University in Singapore. This will be his tenth G20 meeting as Minister of Finance.

Tito Mboweni was appointed Governor of the South Africa Reserve Bank in August 1999. He was Minister of Labour from 1994 until July 1998 in President Nelson Mandela’s cabinet. Prior to this appointment he was Deputy Head of the Department of Economic Policy in the ANC. In 1995 he became one of the World Economic Forum’s Global Leaders of Tomorrow. He was appointed Head of the ANC’s Policy Department in 1997 before joining the Reserve Bank as Advisor to the Governor in 1998. During his tenure he has been appointed honourary Professor of Economics at the University of South Africa for 2000 to 2003, and awarded an honourary Doctor of Economics frim University of Natal in 2001. He was born on March 16, 1959, raised in Tzaneen in the Northern Province. He completed his BA with honours in economics and political science from the National University of Lesotho in 1985. In 1987, he earned his MA in development economics from the University of East Anglia, England. This will be his tenth G20 meeting as Governor.

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Turkey

Kemal Unakitan was appointed Minister of Finance on November 3, 2002. Prior to that he held of number of executive positions, such as General Director and executive board member in the private sector in various industrial institutions, financial institutions and foreign trade companies. From 1976 to 1978 he served as the General Director of SEKA (paper mill). He was born in 1946 in Edirne. He completed his studies at Ankara Economic and Commercial Sciences Academy. He is married with three children. This will be his sixth G20 meeting as Minister of Finance.

Durmus Yilmaz was appointed Governor of the Central Bank on April 18, 2006. He started work in the Foreign Exchange Department at the Central Bank in Turkey in 1980. He became Deputy Director of Foreign Exchange Transactions Division in 1993, Director of Interbank Money Market Division in 1995, and Director of Balance of Payments Division in 1996. He was then promoted to Deputy Executive Director at Markets Department in 1996 until 2002 when he was became Executive Director of the Worker’s Remittances Department. In April 2003 he was elected Member of the Board in the Shareholders Ordinary General Meeting and held this position until becoming Governor. He was born in 1947 in Usak. He received his BA in Economics from the City University of London, and completed his MA degree from the University College at the University of London. This will be his third G20 meeting as Governor of the Central Bank.

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United Kingdom

Alistair Darling was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer on June 28, 2007. He has been a Member of Parliament for Edinburgh Central from 1987 until 2005 and Edinburgh South West since 2005. He was appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury from May 1997 to July 1998, Secretary of the State for Social Security from 1998 until 2001, and Secretary of the State for the Department of Work and Pensions from 2001 to 2002. He served as Secretary of State for Transport and Secretary of State for Scotland from 2002 until 2006 when he was appointed Secretary of the State for the Department of Trade and Industry which he took on from May 2006 until June 2007 when he was appointed his current position. He studied law at Aberdeen University and worked as a solicitor in Edinburgh before being called to the Scottish Bar and accepted into the Faculty of Advocates in 1984. He is married to Margaret Vaughan and has two children. This will be his second G20 meeting as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Mervyn Allister King was appointed Governor of the Bank of England in June 2003. After several teaching positions at Cambridge, Birmingham, Harvard and MIT, in 1984 he became a Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics where he established the Financial Markets Group. He later served as a Non-Executive Director of the Bank from 1990 until he became Chief Economist and Executive Director in 1991. He was formerly Deputy Governor from 1998 until 2003 when he was elected to his current position. He is also the chair of the Monetary Policy Committee. He is currently a Fellow of the British Academy, an Honorary Fellow of King’s and St John’s Colleges, Cambridge and holds multiple honourary degrees from universities throughout the United Kingdom. He was born in 1948.  He attained a first class degree in economics at King’s College, and continued to study at Cambridge, and Harvard. This will be his sixth G20 meeting as Governor.

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United States of America

Henry Paulson was appointed Secretary of the Treasury on July 10, 2006. He is also currently a member of the International Monetary Fund Board of Governors. Prior to his work in the Treasury, he was Staff Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defence at The Pentagon from 1970 until 1972 and he was a member of the White House Domestic Council serving as Staff Assistant to the President from 1972 to 1973. In 1974 be joined Goldman Sachs Chicago Office taking on several positions before he was appointed chair and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs in 1999. He was born March 28, 1946. He is married to Wendy Paulson, they have two children. In 1968 he graduated from Dartmouth with a BA in English. He received his Masters of Business Administration from Harvard in 1970. This will be his third G20 meeting as Secretary of the Treasury.

Ben S. Bernanke was appointed chair and member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on February 1, 2006. After many years of teaching he served in multiple positions for the Federal Reserve System including being a member of the Academic Advisory Panel at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 1990 until 2002; a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Banks of Philadelphia, Boston, and New York until 1996; and he was a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 2002 until 2005. Prior to this current appointment he was chair of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers from June 2005 to January 2006. He is also currently serving as chair of the Federal Open Market Committee. He was born in December 1953 in Augusta, Georgia, raised in Dillon, South Carolina. He is married with two children. In 1975 he completed his BA in economics from Harvard University, and received his PhD in 1979 from MIT. This will be his third G20 meeting as chair and member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

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European Union

Jean-Claude Trichet was appointed President of the European Central Bank in 2003. He was assigned to the Treasury Department in 1975 and has since held many positions within it such as Head of Development Aid Office, Deputy Director of Bilateral Affairs, Head of International Affairs, and Director of the Treasury Department. During this time he also served as Alternative Governor of the IMF and the World Bank. He later became the Governor of the World Bank until 1995, and for two terms the Governor of the Banque de France. In 1998 he became a Member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank before serving as chair of the Group of Ten Governors, and President of the European Central Bank in 2003. He was born on December 20, 1942 in Lyon, France. In 1966 he Graduated the University of Paris in economics and the Institut d’études politiques de Paris. In 1971 he completed his studies at Ecole nationale d’administration and was appointed to the “Inspection generale des Finaces”. This will be his sixth G20 meeting as President of the European Central Bank.

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