ZAGREB, 23 April (Hina) - The Three Seas Initiative (3SI) represents one of Europe’s most promising investment environments, with Dubrovnik set to host next week both a political summit and the largest business forum in Croatia’s modern history, Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman told Hina.
Launched in 2015 at the initiative of Croatia and Poland, 3SI aims to strengthen transport, energy and digital links among countries between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black seas. The grouping brings together 13 EU member states and strategic partners including the United States, Germany and Turkey, focusing on improving connectivity along Europe’s underdeveloped north–south axis.
The first summit was held in Dubrovnik in 2016, with this year’s gathering scheduled for 28 April in the presence of 11 heads of state or government. A business forum on 28–29 April is expected to draw around 1,500 representatives of domestic and international companies.
“It is the largest business forum not only in Croatia but across the Initiative’s member states,” Grlić Radman said, describing it as proof that Croatia is recognised as a “logistics, infrastructure and energy hub”.
Shifting geopolitical circumstances over the past decade, notably Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the ensuing energy crisis and conflicts in the Middle East, have underscored the Initiative’s relevance.
The territory of 3SI countries has become a “strategically highly important area”, the minister said, adding that the Initiative has outgrown its regional role to become a broader “bridge linking Europe and Asia”.
The Dubrovnik meeting will “set the pace for the Initiative’s development in the next decade under new geopolitical conditions”, he said.
At the same time, he added, the region is emerging "as one of Europe’s most attractive investment environments," encompassing a market of 120 million people and recording GDP growth rates roughly double the EU average in recent years.
Ambassador Romana Vlahutin, national coordinator for 3SI and special envoy for strategic connectivity initiatives, told Hina interest in this year’s business forum had doubled compared with previous editions, reflecting growing awareness among businesses that “the world is undergoing profound change”.
“The Initiative is more important today than it was ten years ago,” she said, adding that it is evolving from a political platform into an “investment platform”.
The International Monetary Fund estimated in 2020 that €1.15 trillion would be needed for 3SI countries to match Western Europe’s infrastructure connectivity, a gap difficult to close through public funding alone. “Our ambition is to attract major private investors,” Vlahutin said.
Representatives of companies including Maersk, Mitsubishi, Siemens, Blackstone, Westinghouse and Shimizu Corporation are expected to attend.
Vlahutin noted that the United States will have the third-largest delegation, after Croatia and Poland, with U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright also due to take part.
Croatia aims to use the event to showcase its economic advantages, said Grlić Radman and Vlahutin, as well as the strategic value and security of the Adriatic, described as “NATO’s only sea”. The country will promote investment in railway corridors and energy security projects, Vlahutin added.
Since 2019, 3SI has operated a $1 billion investment fund that has financed six projects, including a data centre in Estonia and the port of Burgas in Bulgaria.
“For us, this is only the beginning,” Vlahutin said.
U.S. Ambassador Nicole McGraw told Hina on Tuesday agreements on U.S. investments in artificial intelligence and a gas interconnection project between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina involving U.S. investors were expected to be signed at the event.
