Response to interpellation 2023/24:486 on the innovative power in the Öresund region
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
1 KD considers that startup companies are important for future prosperity and that the government wants to contribute to more people starting companies 1. KD argues that support is required through skills supply, capital, simpler regulations, as well as investments in education and research 1. KD wants to improve the conditions for international key competence through extended expert tax and a review of the 3:12 rules 1. KD argues that the government is making reinforcements and pushing for regulatory simplifications to improve the ground for entrepreneurship 2 3. 4 S considers that Sweden is a strong innovation country but that one must listen to critical views to stay at the forefront 4. S considers it important to promote entrepreneurship and industrial development 4. S argues that the competition with Denmark is razor-sharp and that more stimulus for investments is demanded 4. S considers that the decisive area between research and the needs of established companies must be supported more actively 5. S argues that Sweden needs to do more to be a world leader in innovation and research 5. 6 S considers that one needs to see the potential within life science and startup companies 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I subscribe to the rostrum in three interpellations today; for those who have "joined" in the gallery and online.
Madam Speaker! Per-Arne Håkansson has asked me if I intend to take the initiative for a review of how the growth of startup companies and scaling companies can be stimulated, and how I assess the potential from a national perspective based on Innovation Skåne's priority areas within health, mobility, and foodtech.
The emergence of startup companies and scaling companies is important for the future prosperity in Sweden. It is our entrepreneurs and business owners who create jobs, prosperity, and welfare. The Government wants to contribute to more people choosing to start and develop companies and realize their ideas. Sweden is a proud industrial and tech nation whose companies have been built by entrepreneurs, ideas, and hard work. Support from the Government also needs to be provided in the future by long-term strengthening of the conditions in many different areas such as skills supply, access to capital, and simpler regulations. The Government also has a responsibility for the coordination of public measures that make it easy to find the right advice and support.
Already today, there is a public ecosystem where innovation centers, incubators, growth funding from Vinnova, regional funds, Almi and Saminvest's funds, together with collaborative initiatives for innovation and a number of private initiatives, contribute to a whole in the support for startups and scaleups.
In the budget bill for 2024, the government proposes several different initiatives for education and research that shall strengthen the engineering nation Sweden and meet the great competence needs, which are found in particular among innovative companies. This includes, among other things, an expansion of the civil engineering programs and an increase in the compensation amounts for education within natural sciences and technology. Without knowledge, there is no innovation.
Growing startup companies are also dependent on being able to attract and retain the international key expertise needed for them to be able to develop and grow in Sweden. The Government has therefore submitted a bill, which has been adopted by the Riksdag, to extend the experts tax from five to seven years. The new rules entered into force on January 1 this year.
The Government has also decided on a supplementary directive to the Committee on Simplified Taxation of Owners of Small Companies, which means that the so-called 3:12 rules will be reviewed. The purpose is for the rules on so-called qualified employee options to become more effective and thus facilitate for companies to attract and retain key competence.
The Government has further given a mandate to Tillväxtverket to, in cooperation with an additional ten agencies, strengthen the coordination linked to Sweden's opportunities to attract and retain highly qualified international competence and other foreign labor that is important for Sweden's competitiveness.
In the budget bill for 2024, the government has, among other things, proposed a strengthening of the business portal verksamt.se - it sounds like the world's driest thing but is the world's best thing if you are going to start a company or have a company - as well as the establishment of a simplification council that complements the previously announced implementation council.
When it comes to Innovation Skåne, I naturally agree that Skåne and the Öresund region have a strong development potential in the area of health and life science. Geographically, the region has a strategic location with good opportunities for cross-border cooperation and, at least equally important, a strong research tradition and strategic research infrastructures. The opportunities for strategic cross-sector collaborations with other technical research and other deeptech companies are good, and that type of cooperation is crucial and is becoming increasingly important. This and a number of other factors create a dynamic environment in this region that is important for Sweden, which we want to continue to be a leading life science country in a world with hardening global competition.
Health and life science is a priority area for the government where we want to be an active party. The Government Offices have an established extra-close cooperation between the three departments that are particularly close to life science issues. This year, we will present both a research and innovation proposition and an update of the national strategy for life science. In the strategy, we want to demonstrate action in a number of areas that we have understood to be crucial for both small and large companies, for the entire sector, and for the ecosystem that life science is so dependent on. Continued research efforts within health and life science are a prerequisite to be able to handle future challenges within the health area and for Sweden to continue to be a competitive life science nation.
Within the framework of the work on the food strategy 2.0, the government highlighted innovative food companies, so-called foodtech companies. It is within these small and medium-sized enterprises that several of the future export successes in food will be found, and it is primarily there that the majority of future new jobs will be created. That these companies grow and internationalize is crucial for Swedish food production to increase.
It was a long answer, but it felt necessary given the heavy and important question. Thanks to the interpellor for it!
Per-Arne Håkansson (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you for the long answer from Minister for Enterprise Ebba Busch!
Sweden is, in a global perspective, a strong country for innovation and invention. This in itself has played a decisive role over several decades for a strong development for jobs and industry, which is a foundation for the financing of our common welfare.
There is, however, reason to listen to and take to heart the critical views expressed regarding challenges and issues and how we can continue to be at the forefront when it comes to innovation.
Even though there has recently been quite a lot of focus on northern Sweden with the establishment of server halls, the mining industry, and forestry, it is important to promote entrepreneurship and industrial development throughout the entire country.
In Skåne and the Öresund region, the cross-border cooperation with Denmark and the influences created thereby are worth noting also from a national perspective. In that case, life science, pharmaceutical manufacturing, medical technology, food, and green industries are forces to be reckoned with. Products such as the pacemaker, the blood bag Triomix, the defibrillator, the anesthesia snap, and, yes, even the refrigerator are well-known Swedish innovations with significance in precisely these areas. My question focuses on how we can stimulate future inventions of similar dignity.
At a recent gathering at Ideon Science Park in Lund, referred to as Skånsk kraftsamling, several pressing issues were raised to invited political representatives. It is some of these that I see it as important to channel through this interpellation. In the region, there is SLU in Alnarp, Lund University, Medicon Village in Lund, Malmö University, Kristianstad University with Krinova, Campus Helsingborg and a number of other actors. In this context, the UN's innovation body Unops, which operates based on the global goals and has a collaboration with Malmö University, can also be mentioned.
To obtain further background and facts, I asked the Riksdag's investigation service to look more closely at how Swedish innovative power stands, with a particular focus on life science and foodtech. I assume that Minister for Enterprise Ebba Busch is aware of the circumstances, but I still want to emphasize the importance of these areas. In the material that has been prepared, there is a Vinnova report from April 2023 which notes that both Skåne and Västra Götaland reached a peak ranking in the number of newly started companies within the life science sector in 2020. The development between 2018 and 2020 was expansive. At the same time, the competition in the region, primarily with Denmark, is razor-sharp, and in recent years, the Danish development in the area has been stronger than ours in Sweden.
Stimulating the growth of startup and scaleup companies within these areas is a step on the way toward building confidence in the future. In this perspective, perhaps the warning bells from several assessors I have met in this context should be considered. I note that Ebba Busch, in the response, accounts for ongoing efforts, but obviously there is more to be done to stimulate investments and initiatives. It is demanded by the collective actors in the field.
I therefore want to once again ask Ebba Busch to elaborate on how she views the possibilities for new initiatives to sharpen the work within this area.
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I would like to thank you again for the interpellation but also emphasize that I truly agree with the tribute to Sweden as a life science country.
I still meet people who do not quite realize that life science accounts for a significant part of Sweden's GDP. It is also an incredibly important export sector for our country. It contributes to the image of Sweden and increases the attractiveness of investing, operating, and being in Sweden. It is something that we must not take for granted.
Just now, we held a round-table discussion with several heavyweights from the life science sector to discuss what else is needed to ensure that future investments land in Sweden and not in Norway or Denmark, from which we are currently seeing very tough competition. I did this together with Minister for Health and Social Affairs Acko Ankarberg Johansson and Minister for Social Affairs Jakob Forssmed, but also a representative from the Minister for Education and Responsible for Research and Higher Education Mats Persson. It is an important signal to the outside world, I believe, and it was also the response we received from the representatives from the life science sector regarding how heavily we weigh the life science issues.
We are now working on the investigation regarding clinical trials, for example, and there we know that further sharp proposals and tools will come to sharpen our competitiveness. I completely agree with the interpellant's sentiment: Here, we must not rest on our laurels.
The public sector needs to find ways to enable winners and create a playing field that provides the best possible conditions for all companies. It is not the public sector that will provide the solutions here, but we can create the foundation and the environment that enables it. When it comes to this playing field, the core is timely changes in the regulatory frameworks that today hinder and complicate companies' innovation and growth.
We look forward to being able to continue working on the investigation regarding clinical trials and, not least, the research and innovation bill that we hope to be able to present sometime at the end of the year.
Per-Arne Håkansson (S)
Madam Speaker! I must thank Minister for Enterprise Ebba Busch for the answer and the reasoning. The questions about strengthening innovation and promoting entrepreneurship – about getting people to develop ideas – need, as I see it, to be kept alive at all times.
Even though our country is still among the foremost in global comparison, this still largely depends on a few large corporate groups such as Ericsson and Scania, which register a number of patents every year. Increased incentives are probably needed to strengthen entrepreneurship and get more actors involved.
The initiative that the previous Social Democratic government launched and that Ebba Busch also referred to, Saminvest, where private investors, business angels can participate and the state contributes with loan investments, is also an initiative that I see living and developing.
Within the framework of the Scanian power gathering that I referred to, where companies, municipalities, and the educational system participate, it was emphasized that the crucial area between research and the needs of established companies must be maintained and supported in perhaps a more active way. The existing structures in this area play decisive roles.
I want to mention the Öresund region, Skåne and the eastern part of Denmark, which has approximately 4.2 million inhabitants. In rounded figures, 65,000 people work and operate within life science and foodtech, according to the Øresundsinstituttet's analyses and reports. It is noteworthy, however, that 58,000 of these employees are in Denmark. In Skåne, it concerns between 7,000 and 8,000 employed persons. Here, there is an opportunity for an increase and stimulation from the Swedish side. We need to do more to continue to maintain high quality and be world-leading within innovation and research.
How does Ebba Busch assess what we need to do to strengthen this work from the Swedish side? Or is already enough being done? My experience from the contacts I have had is that we need to sharpen ourselves.
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I want to begin by underlining that we need to sharpen ourselves. There is significantly more to do here.
It is quite true that some of our greatest successes are companies that we have had for a relatively long time. They are quite large companies, which we are happy, proud and grateful for.
The challenges that hinder growth in so-called startups and scaleups, which could enable more people to make the same journey, are largely the same challenges that all small and medium-sized enterprises face. Some things differ. Fundamentally, however, it is such that for people to dare to start companies and move from the small idea and that seed that was sown – why has no one succeeded in solving this problem or done anything about it? – to then put their working time at stake or mortgage their house and start the company, move from idea to reality, one needs to have a soil for entrepreneurship in Sweden that is significantly better than it is today.
That is why this government is pushing so much and so hard for regulatory simplifications in general – because it is also important for the absolute cutting edge, that is to say startups and scaleups.
But what distinguishes their journey from that of other small and medium-sized enterprises is that they have a high level of innovation and are knowledge-intensive, scalable, and fast-growing. It is clear that this entails quite a lot of growing pains and means that we need to ensure that the infrastructure around them is extra good.
The government is making reinforcements in various areas that affect the conditions for these companies. In addition to overall regulatory simplifications, access to capital, customers, and competence is also required. Several of these parts I also addressed in my original response.
Per-Arne Håkansson (S)
Madam Speaker! I would like to thank you for the debate and the exchange of views regarding the questions on life science and the importance of innovation initiatives and startup companies. My message and purpose in this debate was precisely that we need to see the potential and the opportunities that exist within this area and take the criticism put forward by actors active in these fields as constructive and forward-looking.
It is often about long-term investments that need to be stimulated. The perspective spans several parliamentary terms, so cohesion and sustainable development are of great importance.
I also have a mandate in the Nordic Council, and there I can advocate for proposals that have been submitted to the Council of Ministers regarding joint work in the Nordic countries concerning vaccine production.
I have also been in contact with stakeholders in my local area in Skåne, where there are projects where it is planned that, in connection with the relocation of Helsingborg Hospital, the existing area will be used for research and development within life science and medical technology. It involves an interesting and close cooperation between a large pharmaceutical company and stakeholders from both academia and society.
I have forwarded material regarding this project to the government's special life science coordinator. I have not received any feedback yet, but I assume it has been received and hope that the potential that exists has been noted.
Thank you for the debate so far! I hope that we will follow up and be active in these issues also moving forward. It is about Sweden's best interests and sustainable development.
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I want to begin by thanking you for this interpellation and underlining that there is sometimes a democratic value in highlighting differences and sometimes in highlighting that one maintains issues and priorities even across changes of power. There are several important initiatives that the Social Democratic-led government took during the last mandate period which I have been able to joyfully carry forward, and where there is great value in that we manage to join forces broadly in politics. This is such an area, as I see it. I would therefore like to thank you for the drive and for the interpellor having raised these issues today.
Sweden is a proud industrial and tech nation, but it is entrepreneurs, ideas and hard work that have built this prosperity. There is not a single politician in this chamber or on the other side of the water in the government who creates a single job, but it is fundamentally these entrepreneurs. But our task is to improve the soil.
This is what we have worked on during the Swedish EU Presidency, and we continue to do so within the EU moving forward – not least the issue of the pharmaceutical package, which is now being discussed within the EU. How do we ensure that the EU continues to be an interesting market for heavy investments?
Sweden has now also taken over the chairmanship of the Nordic Council. There we look forward to discussing these issues.
Then I would like again, Madam Speaker, to contribute to highlighting the issue of the research and innovation bill, which will arrive at the end of the year. I believe it will be a very important discussion and an important decision for Sweden's continued competitiveness and attractiveness when it comes to these issues.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.