Three Seas Sofia Summit and Business Forum - July 8-9, 2021
Bulgaria hosts the Three Seas Initiative in 2021. On July 8 and 9, 2021, the Summit of the Presidents of the 3Si countries and the Three Seas Business Forum was held in Sofia.
The American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria is a co-organizer of the Three Seas Business Forum, which is organized by the Ministry of Economy in partnership with the SME Support Agency and the Bulgarian Development Bank.
Highlights from the AmCham Bulgaria Participation in the Three Seas Business Forum – HERE.
The Digitalization Panel at the Three Seas Business Forum united with experts from the public cloud infrastructure, 5G network, satellite connectivity, and cross-border management.
Building a smart infrastructure is a key for economic growth and a major equalizer in the Global Economy for the 3Seas countries. This was the main topic of the panel “Digitalization”, which was held at Day 2 of the Business Forum “Three Seas”, held in Hall 8 of the National Palace of Culture on July 9th, 2021. Moderator and creator of the panel “Digitalization” is Petаr T. Ivanov, CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria, which is among the co-organizers of the Business Forum.
The 3Seas countries are facing the great opportunity to build a smart infrastructure in the Transport and Energy industries and not only. To achieve this, there must be an eco-system of Vendors, Application providers, Public Cloud services operator and supportive Government regulations. Optical Infrastructure for a high-speed connectivity should be combined with 5G infrastructure to connect to the million sensors, that will be deployed. There should be an adequate policy maker in face of the governments, who need to introduce legislation, to have access to public data and stimulate an innovative Eco-system.
Mr. Assen Vassilev, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Bulgaria opened the panel by saying: “The Three Seas Forum can lead to a change in the field of digitalization at European level”.
According to him, all aspects of digitalization – from the creation of autonomous cars to the processes of digitalization in healthcare depends on the highly regulated environment dominated by well-established existing large companies that have written the regulations and which hinder the entry of start-ups.
Closing remarks were delivered by Ms. Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age, European Commission: “The task ahead is huge and it needs a team, a committed team. This is why this summit and this business forum are so important. This is how teams are created because we invest in the human infrastructure. And with this knowledge comes trust. I’m really happy to see how we encourage one another. We’ll make this region rise because the potential is there. Through events like this the human infrastructure is being built. And then the trust is there.”
Read more about the panel and the participants and watch the full video from the discussion.
Event Resources
The American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria
has the pleasure to invite you to the
Three Seas Sofia Summit and Business Forum
on July 8-9, 2021
About the Business Forum:
3Si Sofia Summit and Business Forum is organized by the Ministry of Economy in coordination with the President of the Republic of Bulgaria and in partnership with the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Development Bank and the Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency.
The Goals of the Business Forum are:
- To promote 3Si as an instrument for attracting new investments in Central and Eastern Europe to fund trans-border projects of strategic importance in energy security and diversification, transport, and digital connectivity.
- To stimulate industrial cooperation and the creation of direct contacts between businesses from 3Si countries in innovation, new technologies, and R&D and create opportunities for well-qualified and educated young people in Central and Eastern Europe.
- To support the creation of an attractive investment and business climate, based on free market principles, transparency, and competitiveness to attract fresh investments and private capital to the region.
The business forum will provide excellent opportunities for participants to get acquainted with the latest market trends in the panels (energy, transport, innovation and digitalization), as well as to learn more about the Investment Fund of the Three Seas Initiative and the requirements for projects.
The online platform of the initiative also provides opportunities for communications and online business meetings between all registered participants.
When?
Date: July 8-9, 2021
Location: Sofia, National Palace of Culture and Virtual
Working language: English
Format: Hybrid Event
Official Guests and Key Speakers:
- H.E. Mr. Rumen Radev, President of the Republic of Bulgaria
- Presidents and Prime-Ministers of the Three Seas Initiative member states and strategic partners from: Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Germany, Hellenic Republic
- H.E. Ms. Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President, European Commission
- H.E. Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
- Ms. Mariya Gabriel, EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth
- Ms. Kadri Simson, EU Commissioner for Energy (tbc)
- Ms. Georgette Mosbacher, Co-Chair of the Three Seas Program, Atlantic Council, USA
- Representatives of the U.S. Government
- Mr. Andrey Zhivkov, Minister of Energy, Republic of Bulgaria
- Mr. Kiril Petkov, Minister of Economy of the Republic of Bulgaria
- Mr. Assen Vassilev, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Bulgaria
- Mr. Georgi Todorov, Minister of Transport of the Republic of Bulgaria
- Mr. Ian Brzezinski, Senior Fellow, The Atlantic Council, Washington, D.C., USA
The following key sectors have been identified as priorities for the Three Seas Initiative:
- Energy
- Infrastructure
- Digitalization
Panel Sessions:
| DAY, July 8th | |
| 15:00 – 17:00 | PRESIDENTIAL PANEL: “Three Seas Initiative: A path to smart development and comprehensive economic growth” |
| 17:00 – 19.00 | PANEL ENERGY Moderator: Mr. Kostadin Sirleshtov, CMS Managing Partner, CEE Head of Energy & Climate Change, Bulgaria |
| 17:00 – 19.00 | PANEL INNOVATION Moderator: Mr. Filip Genov, Managing Director, SophiaLab, Bulgaria |
| Day 2, July 9 | |
| 9:00 – 10:30 | PANEL 3SIIF & INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE FOR INCLUSIVE GROWTH Moderator: Mr. Iliya Lingorski, Chief Economist of the Bulgarian Development Bank |
| 10:30 – 12:30 | PANEL TRANSPORT Moderator: Mr. Kaspars Briškens, Head of Strategy & Development at the Rail Baltica (Latvia) |
| 10:30 – 12:30 | PANEL DIGITALIZATION Moderator: Mr. Petar T. Ivanov, CEO, American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria |
* The Summit and Business Forum of the Three Seas Initiative will be a hybrid event and will be broadcast online – register below. The in person presence is by invitations only.
Download the AGENDA.
Read more about the 3Si Summit and Business Forum and the AmCham Activities HERE.