Competitiveness requires a strong economic and entrepreneurial environment, but this cannot exist without human capital, Minister of Labour, Family, Youth and Social Solidarity Petre-Florin Manole said on Monday at the launch event of the latest Economic Survey on Romania carried out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

„For competitiveness, yes, we need a strong economic environment and a strong entrepreneurial environment, but that cannot exist without human capital. And investment in human capital is essential. (…) In Romania, investment in human capital in recent months and for the coming years translates into two extremely important projects, which I believe deserve to be mentioned because their objectives converge with those suggested by this report,” Manole said.

The first project referred to by the minister concerns subsidising and supporting the entry of young people – NEETs – into the labour market. The project is set to start very soon, as it was unblocked ten days ago and will now be able to begin attracting the European funds dedicated to this issue.

„Along the same lines, I could also optimistically anticipate that at the next Government meeting we might unblock another project concerning the modernisation of the public employment service – an extremely ambitious project that refers not only to strengthening the administrative capacity of the National Agency for Employment by hiring new specialists there, but also to digitalisation and to financing linked to results,” Manole added.

The labour minister also spoke about another issue he considers important: investment in disadvantaged groups, those who find it more difficult to access the labour market, for whom there is a project targeting 2,000 rural communities.

„The labour market and human capital also mean investment in disadvantaged groups, in marginalised groups, in those who have greater difficulty accessing the labour market, because beforehand they also have more difficulty accessing education and healthcare systems, and because they may live in marginalised rural areas that are economically disadvantaged or isolated. For these we have an extremely important project (…) targeting 2,000 rural communities – almost the entire rural Romania – for which, with the support of the European Commission, we have 800 million euros for integrated community services: education, prevention of school dropout, healthcare and social assistance,” Florin Manole explained.

He also signalled that he will pay close attention to the potential represented by the Roma population for the labour market in Romania and in the EU.

„I will conclude with a single sentence inspired by the report on the labour market and social assistance in general launched last year by the OECD. It was not exclusively about Romania, but there is an important section to which Romania must pay greater attention and, at least during my mandate, I want to do this. It concerns the organisation’s remarks and objectives regarding Roma people and the labour market. An enormous potential that Europe and Romania sometimes seem to ignore, but a potential source of human resources and skills that we should and could harness in the coming years,” the labour minister said.

According to the report published on Monday by the OECD, Romania’s public finances have deteriorated significantly, posing risks to the long-term sustainability of public finances. To avoid this, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development says that public spending efficiency needs to be increased, while the tax base should be broadened and tax compliance improved.

At the same time, the OECD notes that the recent pension reform – particularly through the increase in the retirement age for women, the limitation of special pensions and the introduction of new indexation rules – is a positive step towards improving the sustainability of the pension system and encouraging labour force participation. However, Romania also faces increasing pressure to raise spending on healthcare, education, social assistance and innovation in order to support inclusive growth. Public sector wages also account for a growing share of government expenditure, which requires stricter control.

AGERPRES