The minister of Development Kostis Hatzidakis was born in Rethymno, Crete, in 1965. From June 2012 to June 2013 he was Minister of Development and Infrastructure. During 2007-2009 he was Minister of Transport and Communications and Minister of Development. He has been elected as a member of the Greek Parliament three times (September 2007, October 2009, May/June 2012).
Previously (1994 - 2007) he was Member of the European Parliament with the New Democracy Party. In the European Parliament he was Chairman of the Committee on Transport and Regional Policy for two and a half years and Parliamentary Representative of the European Peoples’ Party on the same Committee. Before his election as a Member of the European Parliament, he was General Secretary of DAP-NDFK and President of ONNED.

 He studied law at the University of Athens and continued his studies at the University of Kent, where he obtained a Master’s Degree in Communication and Image Studies.