Toespraak van minister Kamp bij de overhandiging OESO-landenrapport 2016

Toespraak | 03-03-2016

Ladies and gentlemen,

The Netherlands has always been a prosperous and entrepreneurial nation. We have traded with the world and built a reputation in areas like water, food and technology. And we are known for our world-class social, healthcare and pension system.

These last few years, however, have been challenging. The global financial crisis and Europe’s debt crisis created an environment in which economic growth was difficult. But the Netherlands responded to the best of its abilities, by innovating, and crucially, reforming.

In fact, when we received the previous OECD report 2 years ago, we had just reformed the health care system, the labour market and the housing market. Our economy had begun to recover and we felt that there was finally light at the end of the tunnel.

Today, that light shines brighter, in part because of further reforms. In the labour market, we increased participation and reduced the duration of unemployment benefits. The housing market has seen a reduction in the mortgage interest tax deductibility and the loan-to-value ratio. We strengthened our supervision of the financial sector and increased the retirement age. In light of all this activity, it is no wonder that the Netherlands is currently the number one OECD country in implementing reforms. I appreciate the recognition of the OECD in this respect very much, as Mr. Kapferer will know from his previous experiences as German State Secretary, implementing OECD reforms can be complicated.

These reforms were designed to improve the structure of our economy and to ensure financial stability. The OECD agrees that they were necessary and beneficial. Where in 2014 we reported GDP growth of 1 percent, we saw it almost double in 2015. In fact, had the production of natural gas not been reduced, which was necessary for the safety of the people in Groningen, that figure would have been 2.3 percent. Regardless of that, the Dutch economy outperformed the Eurozone.

While this is cause for celebration, it is prudent to remain vigilant. The Dutch economy is small and open and we are vulnerable to external shocks. In fact 2 weeks ago, the OECD warned that growth is slowing in emerging economies. The recovery in advanced economies appears to be weakening and financial market volatility and uncertainty have increased.

As a result, the OECD projects lower GDP growth in the euro area and lower exports for the Netherlands. Also taking into account the decrease in gas production, the OECD expects that the Dutch economy will grow by 1.7 percent this year.

Now, while the macro economic outlook is fluctuating, the world of business is rapidly transforming. Digitisation is changing business models, production processes, service delivery and R&D efforts. The emergence of big data and the internet of things is creating new products and services. And emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics are sparking entire new industries and career paths.

These developments are not only inevitable, they are also key to economic growth and jobs. So I feel it is the government’s duty to adapt our economy accordingly. Much remains to be done in this regard, and I would like to address three of the areas that the OECD highlights in its report: the rise in the number of self-employed, the importance of innovation and the changing need for skills.

The number of self-employed people in the Netherlands has doubled in the past 15 years. In part because advances in IT have lowered transaction costs and because of our strict employment protection legislation. But the main reason is that people feel attracted by the lifestyle associated with self-employment. As a result, self-employment has become a structural and valuable aspect of our economy. The OECD agrees that entrepreneurship stimulates competitiveness, creates economic opportunities and makes the labour market more flexible.

Having said that, the OECD is right to point out that self-employment has its own risks and that sometimes they need to be regulated. However, I want to stress that entrepreneurs are responsible for the choices they make.

We need to be very careful that we do not force new developments to adapt to old institutions. The vast majority of self-employed people are happy with their career path and are quite content managing their own risks.

The OECD also addresses the issues of innovation in its report. Currently, we are the world’s 4th most innovative country and the OECD recognises our strength in this area. To retain this position the OECD recommends that we boost our R&D investments, which echoes the European Commission recommendation to shift public expenditure towards supporting investment in R&D.

This makes sense. Innovation increases productivity, which leads to higher growth and well-being. Our national top sector approach to innovation already does a good job of enhancing cooperation between knowledge institutes, the private sector and the government. I therefore welcome the OECD’s recommendation to also enhance direct public support for R&D.

A third topic that the OECD deals with extensively is skills. We have to face the fact that a growing number of tasks are being automated and that employers are in need of a whole range of new skills. This begs the question how employees should obtain the skills required in this rapidly changing world. 

Traditionally, we look to formal education to achieve this. But consider this: 96 percent of all learning is informal, in the sense of learning by doing on the job. Consider all the things we learn when we take up new tasks, or when we work with experienced colleagues. I think we should find ways to encourage this type of learning.

In my view, we can do so by stimulating labour mobility and social innovation. In other words, stimulate people to take up new tasks and to perform tasks smarter. We already see how self-employed people and people with temporary contracts benefit from this. They switch tasks and employers frequently, and even though they spend less time on formal learning, they learn a tremendous amount indeed.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The OECD and Mr. Kapferer have presented us with a most insightful report and for that I am grateful. It provides useful ideas and encourages us to be ambitious. I hope that when the next Economic Survey is presented in 2 years’ time, the OECD will congratulate us on our strong entrepreneurial spirit, our improved innovation and our strengthened skills. I invite you all to partner with us on these worthy goals.

Thank you very much.