MSB is to establish a national contact point for Swedish companies that want to contribute to supporting crisis management if Sweden is in a crisis, heightened alert or war, according to the new mission. The decisions are based on experiences from the pandemic, where the government believes that the business community's resources could not be utilized and that help was therefore delayed.
Swedish industrial companies offered the opportunity to switch their production and start producing, for example, medical technical equipment or protective equipment of various kinds, says Carl-Oskar Bohlin.
Our conclusion from this is that there was a lack of a clear function and role in the state to handle the need for rapid production changes, both with practical information and guidance for companies on this, and that mission is now given to MSB.
Expanded analysis work
MSB is also given the task of expanding its work with supply analyses and they will now identify what there is a critical need for in society and what these needs look like. This type of work has previously been carried out by the agency in the form of a pilot project together with the National Board of Health and Welfare.
This is a natural part of the way the government has directed MSB, both in terms of budgetary resources and the direction given clearly in the defense decision, says Bohlin.
Part of a larger effort
The government has previously decided that MSB will function as a hub in coordinating actors at the national level and be the government's primary tool for preparing society for crisis, heightened alert and war. In connection with this work, the agency changes its name in November and will be called the Agency for Civil Defense from now on.
