Speech
Northern Future Forum 09 February 2012
Fredrik Reinfeldt, Prime Minister

Opening speech by Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt

Check against delivery!

Dear Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Welcome to the Northern Future Forum!

This is a meeting addressing important challenges for the future. In a Europe with short term management of the debt crisis consistently on the agenda - we will today address long term growth issues.

It is my hope that at this meeting, we will - together - demonstrate a modern and open political leadership.
When we gather today - prime ministers, businesspeople, academics and experts - we will do so in an open and creative environment to find ways to further develop our societies.

I am convinced that the museum we are in, the museum for contemporary photography, will create the right atmosphere and contribute to creating an open environment. I hope the art you will be surrounded by will give you some new perspectives and energy to contribute to the discussions!

We live in an age of change. In Europe we are currently focusing on the short term. On the debt crisis and on the lack of competitiveness. In a wider and longer term perspective, we experience other changes. Affecting people globally. The effects of globalisation, digitalisation, the climate challenge and new demographics.

In a world like this - our citizens have rightly high expectations on their governments. The political leadership therefore faces new challenges.

In my view - three things are now vital for us as leaders.
First, leadership means to take responsibility. In the short term by ensuring sound public finances or handling failing banks. But also in the long term. Addressing long term challenges with the aim of making our society better for all citizens. These are the foundations of trust. Let's address the issues that determine how our societies will develop over the coming 20 and 30 years!

Secondly, leadership is about being pragmatic. Politics is very much about being clear about what we want to achieve. But also being open and pragmatic about the solutions. We share the objective of creating more jobs and more opportunities for everyone in our societies. Let's find the solutions!

And thirdly, leadership is about being able to listen. The citizens demand leaders who take difficult and long term decisions, but who are also able to listen to their concerns. A leadership that understands that the reality of people's lives must be the precondition for policymaking. A leadership that understands that good ideas are created in all parts of society and - as we will experience today - in other countries. But listening is very difficult. You have to be open-minded. And you have to be prepared to reconsider what you once thought was true. And to change your mind.

This meeting - the Nordic Future Forum - is about all of this. Taking long term responsibility. Finding pragmatic solutions that can make a difference. And listening.

Looking at the situation of our nine countries represented at the meeting here today, it is true that the economic forecasts are brighter for us than for many other countries in Europe.

On average our 9 economies will grow by 2 per cent in 2012 - according to the European Commission and the IMF. Compared to a negative growth of half a per cent for the Eurozone.

But that being said, the chilly winds from the rest of Europe have already affected - or are about to affect - also our industries and our consumers. And it is clear that we all have huge challenges ahead of us.

A challenge that involves enhancing our competitiveness and competing with fast-growing economies. A challenge of adapting to globalization, new demographics and all the other long term changes affecting us.

This is why our discussions today are so important.
If we only discuss the problems of today and never take the time to widen the perspective. How can we then make sure that our countries will prosper not only next spring, but also twenty years from now?

Our nine countries are quite alike. We are open and trade-oriented economies. We believe in the internal market. Which Iceland and Norway also participate in through the EEA. We believe that the internal market still has an enormous potential. For example when it comes to trade in services, the digital agenda or creating a European patent. We all believe in favourable conditions for competitiveness, innovation and entrepreneurship.

And we believe that we can combine economic growth with a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Our discussions today will focus on two of the challenges that will shape our future. Let me underline - these issues are key to future growth;

• How to reap the full benefit of women's potential on the labour market; in particular how to achieve more women as entrepreneurs and leaders.
• And how we can create the right conditions so that older people choose to remain in the labour market.

I would like to say a few words of introduction and background to the two themes chosen for this meeting. To explain why we find them so important.

Firstly. Only a generation ago, working women were not the norm everywhere. This has changed dramatically. Women make up nearly half of the workforce in Europe, and women account for almost 60 per cent of university degrees in Europe and the United States.

But when you take a closer look at the situation, it becomes clear that we still have a long way to go. A long way before we can reap the full benefit of women's potential on the labour market. And before we can benefit from the fact that women are often better educated than men.

Today only three out of ten European entrepreneurs are women.

And women are under-represented in senior positions. Only one out of ten board members of the largest companies listed on the national stock exchange of EU Member States is a woman. The disparity is widest at the very top where only 3 % of such companies have a woman directing the highest decision-making body.

Some of these women are with us today. And I am very interested in their experiences and the advice they would like to give to us politicians. But also to the private sector and social partners. I believe that all of us need to work together to promote the advancement of women's careers and to create the right circumstances for more women entrepreneurs.

We should also listen very carefully to the Latvian and Lithuanian examples. Two countries that stand out when it comes to the ratio of women entrepreneurs - 40 per cent of their entrepreneurs are women.

Whichever method you choose to make progress, it is clear that we have a lot to benefit from improving the situation for women on the labour market.

Not only does it make economic sense in itself to fully use the knowledge and talent of half the labour force. But there is also an increasing body of research showing that gender diversity pays off in terms of business performance. A McKinsey report from 2010 shows that companies with women on their management boards are performing 56 per cent better than companies run exclusively by men.

I must admit that we have been a little bit eager to find solutions in this area.

Therefore, yesterday, we gathered over a hundred business women in Stockholm. To listen to their experiences and ideas on how to get more women as leaders and more women as entrepreneurs. Some of the ideas put forward were the following:

• Schools and educational systems must encourage entrepreneurship
• We need to ensure flexible ways of managing careers and children
• We need women as visible role models in companies as well as mentorship programmes

I am sure these and other suggestions will be discussed later on today. It is important that we find the solutions to make progress.

Our second topic for discussion concerns the changing demographics and their consequences for our society. In 1950, life expectancy globally was around 46 years. Today, it has risen to an average of nearly 70 globally and almost 80 years for the EU. We live longer, we are better educated, and we are healthier than ever before.

This is a fantastic development. But it is also true that our education, health and pension systems have not adapted to this development. Let alone our attitudes and social norms.

Low fertility rates and young people entering the labour market later result in fewer people working and paying taxes. At the same time they are expected to pay for a growing number of older people. This of course puts a heavy burden on the state.

At the same time many older people would welcome the opportunity to work longer. If it made economic sense.
And if they could set their own conditions - and make them more flexible, with less physical strains and fewer working hours. And also, and this is important. I think many people would like to work longer if they could do two or maybe three different kinds of job in their life. That would make their working life more interesting than just one occupation from the day you enter the labour market until the day you retire.

So we have a challenge here, but we also have great opportunities. The opportunities will appear, if we are prepared to question our habits and give up our prejudices.

We need to discuss how to encourage entrepreneurs who are in their seventies. And how you can enable a change of profession through studies and training at the age of 45 or even 55? Given that you might then have 20 to 30 years of work left.

We should even be ready for people over 60 wanting to change jobs and starting a new occupation. The truth is that there is a growing number of 60-year-olds who want to keep working for possibly 15 or 20 years before they retire.

We need to change our attitudes and realise that these people are not a burden. They represent a wealth of resources and knowledge and they are happy to contribute to society.

One part of the solution is to stop seeing older people as a homogenous group. We are all different and we have different ways of life, different wishes for the future, and different capacities.

If we are to succeed in the long run, and realise the full potential of our older citizens, we must see them as individuals, and we must accept that there is no one model that suits everyone.

Some countries have come further than others. In Iceland for example 50 per cent of those aged between 65 and 69 are still working. I very much look forward to listening to and sharing the Icelandic experience.

To conclude, I believe that our 9 countries represented here today are quite similar when it comes to the challenges we are facing. And the way we want to tackle them. But we have also different strengths and weaknesses.
I am very much looking forward to listening to your experiences, your ideas, and your thoughts on how we can realise the full potential of both women and older people in the future. I am convinced that we have a lot to learn from each other.

Let's start listening to each other! Let's start the discussions!

Thank you very much for your attention.