European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and Suma Chakrabarti, the president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will come to Bucharest for an important summit that starts today, September 17.

Romania hosts this year’s Three Seas Initiative Summit, which brings together the leaders of 12 countries in the region between the Baltic Sea, Black Sea and Adriatic Sea.

The Three Seas Initiative was launched by Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic and is supported by Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Besides the EC and EBRD presidents, the special guests of this year’s summit also include Germany’s foreign affairs minister and the U.S. Secretary of Energy.

The political leaders who come to Bucharest will focus on three economic sectors for cooperation in the region, namely transport, energy and digital. A list of strategic projects for the region should be adopted during the summit and the leaders may also decide to establish a regional investment fund partly funded by the EBRD and the member-states, which should also draw resources from U.S. investors. The summit will also include a business forum to which about 600 participants are expected.

Romania’s Presidency organizes the summit, which will be hosted at the Cotroceni Palace on September 17-18. The business forum will take place at the Romexpo exhibition center.

editor@romania-insider.com