Speakers announced
The list of speakers at the Three Seas Virtual Summit is taking shape. It already makes for impressive reading, but will be added to further in the coming weeks. So far, the presidents of eight countries have confirmed their participation:- Kersti Kaljulaid, President of the Republic of Estonia
- Rumen Radev, President of the Republic of Bulgaria
- János Áder, President of the Republic of Hungary
- Egils Levits, President of the Republic of Latvia
- Gitanas Nausėda, President of the Republic of Lithuania
- Andrzej Duda, President of the Republic of Poland
- Klaus Werner Iohannis, President of Romania
- Borut Pahor, President of the Republic of Slovenia
Also taking the digital stage will be Pablo Chavez (Vice President, Government Affairs & Public Policy at Google Cloud), Margrethe Vestager (Executive Vice-President of the European Commission) and Gavin Tait (CEO at Amber Infrastructure Limited).
Details of agenda revealed
With work continuing apace to make the summit as inviting, meaningful and useful an event as possible, now is the perfect time to unveil its agenda. The Three Seas Virtual Summit will comprise of three main blocks: the first will focus on the future of the initiative; the second on investments; and the third on the digitalisation of the transport and energy sectors. The latter represents an additional contribution on Estonia’s part to help find ways of making more effective use of infrastructure.Presidents’ panel
We have come a long way in five years, and the Three Seas Initiative is now bearing fruit: cooperation is not only taking place at the level of heads of state, but also at the governmental level; eight countries have already joined or are in the process of joining the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund (3SIIF) created last year; and Estonia has devised a vision of how to digitalise the region’s transport and energy infrastructure and to create a platform for economic growth driven by innovation. How do we move forward? What are the key challenges facing the initiative in its fifth year? What does it seek to accomplish in the year ahead, and beyond?
Participants:
- Heads of state from Three Seas countries
- Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission
- High-level representative of the USA (tbd)
- High-level representative of Germany (tbd)
Smart Money
Europe’s higher-than-average economic growth and its politically supported ambition to significantly enhance transport, energy and digital infrastructure in the Three Seas region have the ability to draw new investments here. Perfect examples of this are the successful launch of the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s pledge to contribute up to one billion dollars to the development of the region’s infrastructure. What are the latest developments in regard to the investment fund and what role do participating states see the investments playing?
Participants:
- Gavin Tait, Chief Executive Officer, Amber Infrastructure Limited
- Representatives of the governments of the Three Seas countries that have joined or are joining the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund:
o Poland
o Romania
o Estonia
o Latvia
o Hungary
o Bulgaria
o Lithuania
o Slovenia
Smart Connectivity
With Smart Connectivity, Estonia is offering solutions for the digitalisation and more efficient use of the energy and transport sectors. The aim of Smart Connectivity is to establish a growth platform for innovative services and to support economic growth based on innovation. This could ultimately lead, for example, to the automatisation of road transport and the smart transformation of electricity networks, allowing clients to simultaneously play the roles of energy consumer, producer and saver. The focus of this block will be on current trends and developments, the Smart Connectivity vision and ways of implementing this bold approach in practice.
Participants:
- Pablo Chavez, Vice President, Government Affairs & Public Policy at Google Cloud
- Lie Junius, Public Policy and Government Relations Director at Google Cloud
- Taavi Veskimägi, Chairman of the Board of Elering Ltd
- Krista Baptista, Senior Director, Centre for Digital Acceleration at DAI
- Representative of McKinsey & Company, tbd
Three Seas explained in 120 seconds
Watch the video: