Portuguese finance minister elected “personality of the year”

The Association of Foreign Press in Portugal (AIEP) has elected Portugal’s finance minister Mário Centeno as ‘Personality of the Year’.

“The foreign correspondents have awarded the award to the Portuguese finance minister Mário Centeno who has stood out in the international press since his arrival at the start of the year as the president of Eurogroup” says a press release from the AIEP.

The AIEP said that the “Martha de la Cal Award aimed to distinguish the person or institution that had most contributed towards promoting the country’s image throughout the year.”

The distinction was created in 1990 and is handed out each year based on the votes of 60 foreign journalists accredited as members of the association.

“For the correspondents, Mário Centeno as President of Eurogroup, a high profile international role, has put Portugal in the foreign press and therefore perfectly meets all the criteria for the award” says the President of the AIEP, Levi Fernandes.

The 29th AIEP award will be handed to the minister at a ceremony at the start of 2019. In previous years the award was given to the writer José Saramago, the fado singer Mariza, the Captains of April, Mário Soares, Cristiano Ronaldo and António Guterres.