VSS Strengthens Multilateral Diplomacy

The ASEAN Social Security Association (ASSA) is an important multilateral forum for social security agencies in the ASEAN region to ensure social security for ASEAN people. The 37th ASSA Executive Board Meeting, themed “Extending the coverage of social security”, to be held online with ASSA member agencies.

The 37th ASSA Meeting was scheduled to be held online with ASSA member agencies on December 9, 2020. The VSS had a presentation at the plenary session on “Sharing experiences in ensuring social security for people and businesses in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic”. Within the framework of the conference, the VSS had the honor of receiving the award from the ASSA’s Chairman for its development of participants for voluntary social insurance.”

In 2020, with the spirit of fostering multilateral cooperation, joining hands together and proactively adapting to regional and global difficulties and challenges caused by serious impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the VSS still recognized a number of bright spots in international cooperation and integration. Particularly, the VSS demonstrated its role as a responsible social security agency that led and shaped activities at ASSA.

From the success of the ASSA Chairmanship in 2018-2019, the VSS strengthened its presence, affirmed its active participation in ASSA and deepened its substantive cooperation to match potential and strengths of ASSA member organizations in a joint effort for Vietnam’s ASEAN 2020 Chairmanship.

In 2020, the VSS completed its tasks assigned in the ASSA Action Plan 2019 - 2020 and studied proposals on matching the tenure of ASSA Chairmanship with that of ASEAN Chairmanship. In order to gradually institutionalize ASSA's roles in ASEAN as set forth in its presidency, on February 21, 2020, the VSS actively connected and organized an ASSA meeting (represented by the National Social Security Fund in Cambodia - NSSF, Vice Chair of ASSA in the 2019 - 2020 term and the VSS) with the Secretariat of the National Commission on ASEAN 2020 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to ask ASEAN to facilitate ASSA to gradually take part in its ASEAN activities. In addition, the VSS consulted with the ASSA Chair to consider the likelihood of one-year postponement as compared to the time of holding the 37th ASSA Meeting to September 2021 to match with the year Brunei assumes the ASEAN 2021 Chairmanship. This plan is not only suitable for the currently complicated development of the COVID-19 pandemic in the world and the region and the proposal for postponement of the 37th ASSA Meeting of Brunei ETF, but is also an opportunity and a favorable condition to unify the chairmanship tenures of ASSA and ASEAN.

In addition, the Vietnam Social Security has always promoted the role of coordinating and connecting ASSA's cooperation activities with the International Social Security Association (ISSA). It shared new global approaches and methods of social security administration adapted to the context and conditions of the Fourth Industrial Revolution with delegates; and helped improve the effect and quality of better social security services provided for people in the region.

The VSS’s active connection and promotion of ISSA and ASSA cooperation over the past years has gradually created close cohesion, enhanced cooperation and mutual experience sharing between ASSA and ISSA. ASSA's role and position in ISSA forums are increasing and its activities are more and more practical and effective. The VSS has promoted the leading role of ASSA’s activities, created a positive, connected transition from regional multilateral diplomacy to world multilateral diplomacy, helped build a prosperous, civilized and developing ASEAN Community in the overarching spirit of "Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN” in Vietnam’s 2020 ASEAN Chairmanship and the 2025 ASEAN Vision Statement.

The VSS has developed a force of social security experts to provide high-quality experts to give presentations on the VSS’s health insurance assessment system and the need for a transition to diagnosis-related group (DRG) at an online workshop within the framework of the World Bank's project to support the government of Rwanda on health insurance reform; sharing experiences at the ISSA Forum on policies on social insurance and health insurance amidst the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic; and sharing experiences at an online conference with South Korean partners on results of health insurance policies in the new context.

By Huong Thom, Vietnam Business Forum