The VASAB CSPD/BSR is supported by a Secretariat with permanent staff. It was initially located at Karlskrona, Sweden, from 1994 to 2006 – in Gdansk, Poland.

Since January 2007 VASAB Secretariat is located in Riga and is hosted by the State Regional Development Agency of Latvia. The hosting of VASAB Secretariat in Riga, Latvia is prolonged until 31 December 2029.

As decided by the Third Ministerial Conference in 1994 in Tallinn, the main tasks of VASAB Secretariat are the following:

• to perform Secretariat functions for the CSPD/BSR;
• to push forward the approved actions and assist in the preparation of Ministers’ meetings, support common activities decided by CSPD/BSR;
• organise the on-going concertation process with other institutions;
• promote the concept of co-operation in the Baltic Sea Region;
• promote and accompany research and pilot projects;
• identify new required common actions;
• organise the mutual information among the BSR countries and regions.

The Head of VASAB Secretariat is responsible for:

• the execution of tasks according to the CSPD/BSR guidelines and decisions;
• economic and effective spending of funds in accordance with the approved budgetary lines.

Rules of Operations of the VASAB Secretariat are adopted by the 75th VASAB CSPD/BSR meeting on 19 May 2017.