Regional collaboration and joint initiatives are expected to be the focal points of talks at the Three Seas Initiative Forum of Regions in the village of Jasionka in Poland's southeastern Podkarpacie province on Tuesday.

The Three Seas Initiative aims to boost cooperation between 12 Central European, Baltic and Western Balkan states: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic, Poland’s PAP news agency reported.

The event is being held under the auspices of Polish President Andrzej Duda, PAP said.

Nearly 500 attendees from Poland and across the Three Seas region are expected to take part in the event.

Topics on the agenda include the role of regions in fostering the Three Seas Initiative, avenues for regional collaboration and energy security.

One of the event’s panel discussions is dedicated to the Via Carpathia, a major traffic route to connect northern and southern Europe.

An agreement on establishing an Observatory of the Three Seas Regions is expected to be signed at the forum. The research centre is to be co-founded by institutions including the University of Rzeszów, Poland’s Central Statistical Office (GUS) and the Podkarpacie province’s governing body.

The chairman of the Podkarpacie province, Władysław Ortyl, has said that the research centre will gather “statistical information about the Three Seas region” and serve as a database for entrepreneurs and politicians.

(aba/gs)

Source: IAR, PAP