An effective social security strategy for all situations

Tran Dinh Lieu - Deputy general director, Vietnam Social Security

Since 2018, Vietnam Social Security (VSS) has actively implemented many activities to gradually realise the contents of Resolution 28. It proposed many effective solutions to rapidly expand social insurance to everyone, look towards universal social insurance coverage, and ensure the best interests of people participating in health insurance.

The content of social insurance policy reform set out not only expands coverage to the formal sector, but also pays special attention to farmers and informal-sector labourers who have not been fully addressed in previous policies.

The resolution defines a specific goal of reaching about 45 per cent of the labour force in the age group participating in social insurance by 2025, of which farmers and informal sector employees participating in voluntary social insurance will account for about 2.5 per cent of the labour force in the age group.

The resolution has demonstrated the social security goal of Vietnam of covering social insurance benefits for every member of society towards sustainable development, ensuring that no-one is left behind.

Since then, social insurance coverage has continuously increased in both the number of participants and beneficiaries, especially in the development of voluntary social insurance participants. Nearly 280,000 people participated in voluntary social insurance in the 10 years between 2008 and 2018.

In 2019 alone, a year after Resolution 28 was issued, there were nearly 300,000 new members of voluntary insurance, which was considered a breakthrough achievement.

In the coming time, VSS will speed up reforms so that social insurance can truly become a social safety net covering the entire population, in which three main groups of solutions are proposed.

Firstly, proposals and recommendations should be raised to improve policies and laws on social insurance, especially voluntary social insurance: reducing the number of years of social insurance payment to enjoy pension from 20 years to 15, and eventually 10 years; raising state support for payment of voluntary social insurance premiums; and supplementing short-term and flexible regimes and policies such as sickness and maternity in order to increase the attractiveness of voluntary social insurance policies.

Secondly, VSS should strengthen coordination with ministries and branches, press agencies, and authorities at all levels to promote communication in various and diversified forms to raise awareness and participation in social insurance for enterprises and people. It should also improve both the effectiveness and efficiency in implementation of development of voluntary participants.

Third involves enhancing the application of IT in management and administrative procedure reform; strengthening professional training and management; and also regularly checking the performance within the organisation and the apparatus of collection tasks and agencies to promptly rectify violations and harassment, which limit the results of performance in development.

Along with that, the behaviour and attitude of serving participants and beneficiaries is improving, contributing to building a modern and professional Vietnamese social insurance sector, towards the satisfaction of both individuals and businesses.