The Three Seas Initiative, which Greece has also joined, will transform the eastern and south-eastern parts of the European Union, said Iulian-Cosmin Margeloiu, Secretary of State with the Ministry of Economy, Digitalisation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, on Monday at the event 'Strategic Regional Cooperation in South-Eastern Europe'.

'We are part of the European ecosystems and, if we continue to act alone, we will fall behind. I will give an example of an initiative that will transform our region: the Three Seas Initiative, which Greece joined three years ago, right here in Bucharest. As hosts, as Romanians, we supported Greece's accession to the initiative. The initiative focuses on three things: infrastructure development, both transport and 5G connectivity, as well as dual-use infrastructure,' Iulian-Cosmin Margeloiu said.

According to him, the strategic importance of the eastern and south-eastern part of the European Union has increased in recent years.

'It is difficult not to speak about the war in Ukraine when discussing the Eastern Flank. Europe has realised that we have a problem here. There are long-standing ties in the region between Romania and Greece. We have been friends for centuries,' the Secretary of State pointed out.

He added that, at the end of last year, a memorandum of understanding was signed 'to inject more capital, more billions, into developing the area's interconnectivity along the north-south axis'.

'There will be three smaller routes coming from Greece, through Bulgaria and ultimately from Romania onwards to Moldova and Ukraine. There will be transport links, railways and infrastructure, as well as 5G connectivity, along these motorways. Bridges will be built over the Danube. (...) The transfer of goods between the countries' new economic developments will be unlocked. This means there will be numerous business opportunities, both during the construction phase and afterwards, once the improved infrastructure is completed,' Iulian-Cosmin Margeloiu stated.

The Three Seas Initiative (3SI) is 'a flexible and informal political platform at presidential level bringing together the 12 EU member states located between the Adriatic, Baltic and Black seas (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia)'. Greece joined the format as a full participating state at the 2023 3SI Summit in Bucharest.

The Bucharest Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIB), together with the Embassy of the Hellenic Republic in Bucharest and institutional partners from both countries, is organising a two-day event on Monday and Tuesday dedicated to economic and regional cooperation between Greece and Romania, under the title 'Strategic Regional Cooperation in South-Eastern Europe'.

The event is attended by representatives of regional authorities and administrations, chambers of commerce, business organisations, universities and research institutions, as well as Greek and Romanian companies.

The Greek delegation is led by Konstantinos Gkioulekas, Deputy Minister of the Interior for the regions of Macedonia and Thrace.

According to the organisers, the Greek companies represented operate in sectors including property and construction, wood processing, metal structures, furniture, technology and IT, medical products, services and the food industry.

The event is taking place primarily at the headquarters of the Bucharest Chamber of Commerce and Industry over two days and includes a bilateral economic forum, B2B networking sessions, thematic round tables, meetings between companies, authorities and economic organisations, and discussions on regional cooperation in South-Eastern Europe. Participants are also addressing issues relating to port cooperation, logistics and transport, regional connectivity and trade corridors. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Cristian Anghelache; EN - writing by: Cristina Zaharia)