The eighth summit of the Three Seas Initiative took place on 6-7 September in Bucharest, Romania. The event was followed by a business forum, attended by over 800 representatives of institutions, organizations and companies from the 12 countries participating in the initiative. The BCCI was presented by the General secretary Dr. Vasil Todorov and member companies of the Chamber.
Romania is organizing the summit for the second time within the framework of the "Three Seas" initiative. The business forum was opened by the President of Romania - Klaus Iohannis, who outlined the achievements of country as a hosting leader of the initiative’s summit. Iohannis announced the launching of a new instrument of the "Three Seas" platform – the Innovation Fund. "This new instrument, being more flexible, will complement the available financial mechanisms, with a focus on new edge advanced technologies applied in the priority areas of the initiative (purpose driven innovation)" Iohannis pointed out. He communicated that 6 billion euros from the already existing Investment Fund have been invested in projects in the region.
The presidents of Poland, Lithuania and Croatia were also given the floor to address the forum. Another participant in the event was John Kerry, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. The emphasis during the forum was placed on topics related to additional opportunities for stimulating economic development, enhancing cooperation, strengthening security in the region, improving regional connectivity and activating necessary investments for essential infrastructure projects in the region.
This year the business forum covered the following sectors: energy /decarbonization - renewable sources and nuclear energy/, transport /rail and road/ and digitalization /cyber security and artificial intelligence/.
Before closing the forum, the participants adopted a Joint Declaration which welcomed Greece as the 13th full member country in the Initiative and Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova as associate members.