OREANDA-NEWS.  February 17, 2012. The ”Northern Future Forum” was held in Stockholm – the capital city of Sweden, at the conclusion of which, the Heads of State of Great Britain, Nordic and Baltic countries supported the proposal made by Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis to organize the forum in Riga next year. Thereby, at the beginning of next year, the Prime Ministers, experts and entrepreneurs of nine countries will gather in Riga to search for solutions to challenges faced by all countries of the region.

The forum held in Stockholm addressed two issues: – "How do we get More Women in Leading Positions and as Entrepreneurs?" and "How do we get Senior Citizens to Stay Longer in the Labour Force”?

Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis: “The whole Europe is facing negative demographic tendencies, therefore, the question of how to create favourable conditions to ensure that as many people as possible participate in the labour market becomes increasingly topical. This becomes a decisive issue for further development of our region and, therefore, we need to look for new ways to make better use of our labour force through support to initiatives of both, women and senior citizens. In Latvia, where the proportion of women in top positions in business and administration is even higher than in some Nordic countries, the non-governmental organizations also largely contribute, which inspires and motivates women to fulfil themselves in the labour market or to create new jobs for themselves and others on their own initiative.

The employment of senior citizens, in its turn, cannot be juxtaposed to youth employment, because we need both - experience and energy of young people. Therefore, there is a need to create preconditions to ensure that those who can and are willing to continue working also beyond retirement age, would have such a possibility”.

About the forum:
The forum was held for the first time in January 2011 in London. It was organized by the government of the United Kingdom to share experiences between the United Kingdom, the Nordic and Baltic countries. In the 2011 forum, the countries presented more than 40 best practices and achievements in the area of green economy, sustainable business, technologies and innovations, employment, family as well as gender equality. More detailed information about the forum: http://www.regeringen.se/sb/d/15274