The 35th Board Meeting of the ASEAN Social Security Association (ASSA 35) recently took place in Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa province, attended by 20 social security associations from 10 Southeast Asian countries. The meeting was chaired by the Vietnam Social Security (VSS) on a rotational basis.
Delivering an opening speech, Deputy Minister, General Director of VSS Nguyen Thi Minh cum ASSA Vice President, said, joining ASSA since its establishment in 1998, after two decades, VSS has joined forces with other member organisations to successfully build a mature and powerful ASSA.
Ms Minh pointed out that the ASEAN social security system is entering a new stage of development with opportunities and challenges resulted from the Fourth Industrial Revolution and from the free labour mobility in the region, requiring ASSA a creative approach, a long-term vision to bring experience and technology of member organisations into play and integrating outcomes to generate the synergy of ASSA for the sustainable social security for all people in the ASEAN Community.
Mr Suradej Waleeittikul, Secretary General of the Social Security Association of Thailand cum ASSA President, said, after two decades of construction and development, ASSA has become a leading regional multilateral forum on social security, cast a growing influence and affirm a position in the region and in the world. In the international integration and cooperation trends, ASSA plays an increasingly important role in ensuring social security for the peoples in the region and actively contributes to realising the prosperous, progressive, civilised and developing ASEAN Community.
However, driven by information technology development and growing free labour mobility in the region and in the world, social security organisations are facing numerous challenges in building a regulatory system and insurance networks.
Renovating and upgrading human resources
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said that the Industrial Revolution 4.0, powered by artificial intelligence and the Internet of things will open a new era of mankind development - the digital age forecast to exert a powerful impact on every aspect of the economic, cultural and social life of each country. This is a historic but challenging opportunity for social security agencies to reform and develop.
Therefore, there is a need for solutions enabling different countries to have equal opportunity to rise up and not move away from the goal of placing humans at the heart of development process, he said. Well aware of this, the Government of Vietnam is highly committed to building an e-government, moving towards a digital government, developing information infrastructure, getting capable of managing national development in the digital evolution era where humans are placed at the heart and no one is left behind.
“This is also the goal and effort of all ministries and sectors. As far as I am concerned, the health insurance information system of the Vietnam Social Security is highly appreciated by ASEAN friends, evidenced for a sector that endeavours to rise up and take advantage of opportunities,” said Deputy Prime Minister Dam, adding that humans are equally important. Therefore, in the context of deepening globalisation, international integration and free labour mobility, each country must innovate human resources training to adapt to new changes and requirements.
He add affirmed that Vietnam is cooperating with the social security system in the world, aiming for a multi-layered, sustainable and effective social security system to meet people’s needs, actively contribute to the national economic, cultural and social development. In this process, Vietnam wishes to share experience of the International Social Security Association (ISSA) in general and of the ASEAN Social Security Association (ASSA) in particular to create a sustainable environment to develop social security for all workers and health insurance for all people.
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