On April 28, AmChams in Latvia and Bulgaria in partnership with Digital Poland and Google hosted a Three Seas Initiative (3SI) Digital Conference in advance of the upcoming 3SI Summit in Riga. Experts outlined several important issues such as the significance and urgency of the digital transformation, the necessity to establish a coordinating institution of the 3SI as well as the opportunity to build strategic partnerships to integrate the Central and Eastern European region in the global market.  

Many distinguished keynote speakers joined the event to deliver remarks ahead of the Riga Summit including John Carwile, U.S. Ambassador to Latvia, Raimonds Lapiņš, Deputy State Secretary on Economic Issues at the Ministry of Economy of Latvia, Edgars Bondars, Ambassador‐at‐large for the Three Seas Initiative, John Tully, President of AmCham Latvia, Arturs Toms Pless, Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of Latvia, and Mark Boris Andrijanic, Minister of Digital Transformation of Slovenia, Ian Brzezinski, Senior Fellow, The Atlantic Council, Washington, D.C., USA; Petar T. Ivanov, CEO, American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria; Marta Poślad, Director for CEE & Transatlantic Public Policy at Google.

In his opening statement, John Tully, President of AmCham Latvia, Chairman of the Board at MikroTik said that “since Russia’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine, promoting regional collaboration has become more relevant than ever. It is critically important to cooperate in the digital area, boosting cross-border connectivity and securing smart energy, transport and digital networks. Now is the time for our countries to become closer integrated with one another and within the transatlantic community.” 

Keynote speakers of the event were as follows;

• John Tully, President of AmCham Latvia and CEO of MikroTik
• Edgars Bondars, Ambassador-at-large for the Three Seas Initiative
• Raimonds Lapiņš, Deputy State Secretary on Economic Issues at the Ministry of Economy of Latvia
• John Carwile, U.S. Ambassador to Latvia

The panel discussion and the second part of the conference was devoted to digital transformation in the 3Si region and addressing new challenges with the following speakers:

• Artūrs Toms Plešs, Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, Latvia
• Mark Boris Andrijanič, Minister for Digitalization, Slovenia
• Ian Brzezinski, Senior Fellow, The Atlantic Council, Washington, D.C.
• Marta Poslad, Director for CEE & Transatlantic Public Policy at Google
• Petar T. Ivanov, CEO, AmCham Bulgaria

The panel discussion was moderatoed by Michal Kanownik, President of Digital Poland/CEE Digital Coalition.

The discussion panel concluded that the digital pillar of the 3SI countries is strong. “The cooperation between the 3S digital ministers has never been better. Our impact on EU digital policies has rarely been greater and, given the crisis and the war in Ukraine, the need for the 3SI has never been more urgent,” said Mark Boris Andrijanic, Minister of Digital Transformation of Slovenia.

Upcoming 3SI Business Forum’s digital panel will address issues of European digital security, securing technological value chains as well as using new technologies in economic growth and promoting safe and secure commercialization of digital innovations.

To revisit the conference
To view the program of the event
To view the biographies of speakers

Co-hosts:

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