Biography - Praxoula Antoniadou Kyriacou

Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism
Praxoula Antoniadou Kyriacou

Praxoula Antoniadou Kyriacou is a graduate of The London School of Economics and Political Science, where she received a B.Sc. in Economics, and an M.Sc. in Monetary Economics. She is also a graduate of the English School, Nicosia.

She held a managerial position with the Central Bank of Cyprus, where she served for 24 years. The Minister has significant expertise in macroeconomic analysis, policy formulation and management, and in statistics. She has extensive knowledge of European Union matters and served as coordinator of the Central Bank of Cyprus during the five-year period of the accession negotiations. She has also served as member of various committees of the European Central Bank and of EUROSTAT.

She participated in a number of seminars and courses at the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, EUROSTAT, the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the Swiss National Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, as well as in seminars on management issues (CIIM, Dale Carnegie).

At the time of her appointment as Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, she was the Managing Director of ChangeWays Consultancy Ltd, a business consultancy providing advice to enterprises as to change management and undertaking studies in macroeconomic analysis.

She is a member of the three ladies team of economists who have co-authored the award winning trilogy of studies on “The Day After’’ ¹, concerning the economic benefits to accrue to all the Cypriots, as well as to Turkey and Greece once Cyprus is reunited.

In her capacity of President of the United Democrats, she has worked constructively within the political family of the European Liberal Democrats trying to promote the implementation of Liberal values such as freedom, democracy and respect of human rights. In accordance with the above, the United Democrats appreciated the unanimous adoption by the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party, in their November 2009 Barcelona Congress, of a resolution expressing support to the efforts for the attainment of an agreed solution to the Cyprus problem that will be reunifying Cyprus on the basis of a bizonal bicommunal federation.

It is important to note the endorsement on behalf of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party of the electoral cooperation between the United Democrats and AKEL in the May 2011 Parliamentary elections, as well as the appreciation expressed by ELDR of the appointment by President Christofias of the leader of the Liberal Party of Cyprus as a member of the reshuffled cabinet in August 2011.

As President of the United Democrats, Mrs. Antoniadou Kyriacou had participated in meetings organized in Istanbul by GPoT Center, TESEV and the German Liberals’ Friedrich Naumann Stiftung, aiming at building communication bridges between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and, especially, between Cyprus and Turkey.

In the context of these meetings, she had the opportunity to meet with His-All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, as well with the Turkish Prime Minister Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoǧan.

She has also been a regular and active participant of the meetings of the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot political parties meeting at Ledra Palace.

Praxoula Antoniadou Kyriacou is married to Lysandros Kyriacou and has two children, Semeli and Theodoros.

She assumed office as Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism on the 5th of August 2011.