Baltic States conference on Social Security

Opening speech by Secretary of State Gina Lund at the 20th Baltic States conference on Social Security, Oslo 14 September 2011. 

 

Welcome to Norway and to the 20th Baltic States conference on Social Security here in Oslo.  

It has been a rough summer in Norway after the terrible attacks on July 22.  

• An attack on our democracy
• An attack on our government offices and our labour youth camp on Utøya 

We are deeply grateful for the international solidarity and the support that Norway has received from all of you.  It has helped us through the very first stage.  

International cooperation and exchange of experiences and ideas are vital to maintain and renew our societies.   

The aim of these conferences is exactly to exchange ideas and information between the ministries and social security institutions in the participating countries.  

During 20 years this conference has covered several important topics like: 

• economic and demographic challenges for pension systems, 
• work incentives, 
• mobility between countries, 
• and public information on social security.   

This year’s main theme is:  “Administration and Automation of services”. 

An important topic both in order to increase efficiency in the Social security administration, and to improve the opportunities for self service of social security benefits. 

The Norwegian welfare is based on well developed and redistributive social benefits in addition to free education and healthcare. The public sector is relatively large, and it is a growing need on keeping it cost-efficient and reliable.  

To secure confidence in the social security system it is essential that 

• information is easy accessible
• that good service is provided  

The new pension system in Norway, as an example, provides more flexibility concerning when to retire fully or partially. It is therefore fundamental that people are able to make informed decisions on when to retire and whether and how they want to combine work with retirement.  

It is an important goal to continue the development of our public services in a direction where individuals participate and contribute based on their own abilities.

Increased efficiency in administration makes it possible to focus more on vulnerable groups.  And to provide services and individualized assistance for those needing extra help to access the labor market. 

Norway places great pride in our welfare system.  The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) is still facing great challenges, but we have created an organizational structure to merge political goals with efficient operational public administration. 

NAV has 17 000 employees. It administrates about one third of the Norwegian government’s budget, and about 25 per cent of the population in Norway get regular payments from NAV. 

NAV has implemented a large program to take care of the administrative challenges related to the Norwegian pension reform.

The program has been successful, and NAV is currently able to process a large number of cases in a short time. Also due to new technology it is now possible for the public to apply for a pension electronically, and to calculate their pension based on various assumptions regarding future income etc.   

I know that all countries focus on automation and self service in the Social security administration. I hope this conference will have a fruitful exchange of ideas, and that you even can combine it with enjoying the city of Oslo and maybe even a touch of sun!

You are all very welcome!