The Three Seas Initiative aims to strenghten socio-economic and scientific cooperation of local governments and business from the Central and Eastern European countries. This event will be the biggest business event in eastern Poland and one of the biggest in Central and Eastern Europe. The initiative will bring together 12 countries of the region: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, as well as strategic partners (the European Union, the United States of America and Germany), partner regions of the Lubelskie Voivodeship from Ukraine and Belarus and Polish business communities from all over the world.

We are in this part of Europe which wants to cooperate in terms of economy and politics – the Marshal of the Lubelskie Voivodeship Jarosław Stawiarki underlined during today’s press conference - Lublin is situated on the ‘’life road” of eastern Poland, i.e. Via Carpathia, and that is why we have invited to cooperation 11 countries which signed the Three Seas Initiative.

The April event will be held under the honorary patronage of the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda.

When last year we requested Mr President to give patronage to the Local Government Economic Congress, we received a proposal to continue in Lublin the second edition of the Three Seas Forum of Regions –the vice-marshal Zbigniew Wojciechowski explained. - I am glad that we can be in the centre of international economic, social and cultural politics.

The topics tackled during the Congress will include economic cooperation of the Three Seas regions, especially in the context of a development impulse - the Via Carpathia route, energy security, tourism, agriculture, innovations in business, science and economy. It will also be an opportunity for B2B meetings.

Thanks to the Congress, for 2 days, Lublin will become the business capital of Poland. Ministers from the Three Seas countries will attend the plenary sessions. –the vice-marshal Michal Mulawa explained to media representatives. Minister Krzysztof Szczerski together with the diplomats from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Latvia and Estonia will talk about the Three Seas Initiative. There will also be an inauguration panel attended by the presidents of the Three Seas Initiative regions and marshals of the eastern Poland regions. The second day is also going to be interesting. One of the topics to be discussed then will be energy security in the aspect of sustainable development.

Cooperation under the Three Seas Initiative aims to extend infrastructure, energy and digital networks and thus create new international business links.

During the Congress the letter of intent will be signed between representatives of the Three Seas regions. The document, called the Lublin Declaration will concern deepening economic cooperation between regions, energy security and financial instruments. The United States of America have already declared a programme which is to financially support the Three Seas regions.

It is planned to establish the Economic Network of the Three Seas Regions during the event.