Overview of the workshop

The workshop was attended by representatives from the National Assembly, the Central Commission for Policy and Strategy, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Home Affairs. International participants included representatives of the World Bank, experts, and businesses operating in the digital platform sector, including Grab Singapore, one of the major digital platform companies with a large number of workers.

Expanding social insurance coverage in response to changes in the labour market

In his opening remarks, Mr. Tran Dinh Lieu, Deputy Director General of Viet Nam Social Security, emphasized that social insurance is one of the important pillars of the social protection system. Expanding coverage so that an increasing number of workers can participate in and benefit from social insurance policies is an important task in the implementation of social insurance policy in Viet Nam.

In recent years, Viet Nam’s social insurance policies have continued to be revised and supplemented in the direction of expanding the groups eligible for participation, increasing flexibility, and facilitating participation and the maintenance of contribution periods. The 2024 Law on Social Insurance and its implementing regulations have expanded the categories of persons subject to compulsory social insurance, while introducing additional policies to encourage participation.

According to Deputy Director General Tran Dinh Lieu, in 2025, the number of people participating in social insurance exceeded 21.5 million, equivalent to 45.1 percent of the working-age labour force. During the first eight months of 2026, the figure exceeded 22.4 million, equivalent to 46.7 percent. Alongside expanding participation in social insurance and health insurance, Viet Nam Social Security has placed emphasis on improving the quality of policy implementation and ensuring the timely and full settlement of benefits and entitlements for participants and beneficiaries.

However, alongside digital transformation and the rapid changes taking place in the labour market, further expansion of social insurance coverage is giving rise to new requirements, particularly in relation to flexible forms of employment. Digital platform work, together with forms of piece-rate, daily and part-time work that provide stable income, calls for further study on the identification of eligible workers, participation arrangements, the collection and payment of social insurance contributions, as well as coordination mechanisms among relevant stakeholders.

Providing an international perspective, Mr. Christopher Sheldon, Operations Manager for Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Lao PDR at the World Bank, noted that the digital economy is transforming the way people work, while creating new opportunities to earn income and participate in the labour market. In Viet Nam, platform enterprises are estimated to provide employment opportunities for around 2 million people. However, a World Bank study found that more than 90 percent of surveyed workers considered digital platform work their main source of income, while only around one in five participated in social insurance.

According to Mr. Christopher Sheldon, a survey of nearly 5,000 workers across a number of digital platforms in Viet Nam found that workers had significant demand for social protection measures such as health insurance, accident insurance, sickness benefits, and pensions. Many workers were willing to contribute to the social insurance system if policies were more accessible, flexible, and better aligned with the characteristics of their income.

From the reality of platform work to social insurance policy

The first session of the workshop focused on “Digital Platform Work,” examining the development of the digital economy and the characteristics of workers engaged in new forms of employment.

During the session, Ms. Nguyen Minh Thao, Head of the Business Environment and Competitiveness Research Department, Institute for Policy and Strategy, presented on “The Digital Economy and Digital Platform Work in Viet Nam.”

The presentation highlighted that the development of digital technology and the digital economy is driving the emergence of new business and employment models. Platforms operating in transport, delivery services, e-commerce, digital payments, and other sectors are not only creating additional income-earning opportunities but also transforming the way work is organized and performed.

Notably, platform workers have characteristics that distinguish them from traditional employment: they may work simultaneously for multiple platforms, move between platform work and traditional forms of employment, or engage in work on an intermittent basis; their incomes can be volatile, while they generally enjoy a relatively high degree of autonomy but remain to some extent dependent on digital platforms. These characteristics limit their access to traditional social protection systems and underscore the need to explore social protection arrangements that are better suited to a flexible, multi-platform, and non-traditional labour market.

A representative of the General Statistics Office, Ministry of Finance, presented “Workers Engaged in Digital Platform Work in Viet Nam.” Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga, Social Protection Specialist, World Bank, presented “Digital Platform Survey – Key Findings from the Large-Scale Gig Worker Survey,” providing further evidence on the characteristics, needs, and issues facing this group of workers.

The second session focused on “Social Insurance Policies for Digital Platform Workers.” A representative of the Department of Wage and Social Insurance, Ministry of Home Affairs, presented “Issues Arising in Social Insurance Policy for People Working on Digital Platforms.”

From a policy perspective, the presentation addressed several core issues, including identifying an appropriate form of social insurance participation; clarifying the relationship between workers and digital platform companies; and determining contribution levels, payment methods, and the contribution responsibilities of the relevant parties. Other issues included identifying and managing persons subject to social insurance coverage, as well as reviewing regulations concerning wages and income serving as the basis for social insurance contributions, the settlement of social insurance benefits, and administrative procedures for implementing social insurance policies.

Mr. Oleksiy A. Sluchynskyy, Senior Economist, World Bank, then shared his presentation on “Expanding Social Insurance Coverage for Platform Workers in Viet Nam.”

The discussions during the first two sessions helped clarify the characteristics of platform work and the issues involved in expanding social insurance coverage, ranging from identifying eligible workers and employment relationships to contribution levels, payment methods, and the responsibilities of different stakeholders.

International experience and implications for Viet Nam

Building on domestic perspectives, the workshop broadened the discussion through the third session, entitled “Experiences in Expanding Coverage.”

Representatives of the World Bank shared research findings on expanding social insurance coverage for platform workers in Indonesia. From the perspective of a platform company, Mr. Brendan Chia, Regional Head of Public Affairs (Policy), Grab Singapore, discussed social insurance in the platform economy in Southeast Asia.

The experience of the Republic of Korea was presented online by Mr. Joseph Han, Senior Research Fellow, Korea Development Institute (KDI), under the theme “Social Protection for Platform Workers: The Case of Korea.”

The experiences of Indonesia, Singapore, and the Republic of Korea broadened the discussion on approaches to providing social protection for platform workers and offered practical references for Viet Nam to consider solutions suited to its own circumstances.

A number of approaches were also discussed, including designing contribution levels flexibly in line with income and working frequency; strengthening the portability of social protection entitlements as workers move between jobs or platforms; and exploring mechanisms for sharing contribution responsibilities among workers, platform companies, and the State.

Some proposals focused on using platform data to support income identification, contribution calculation, and more convenient social protection contributions. These are potential avenues that warrant further study and assessment in terms of their suitability and practical applicability.

Following the discussions, a representative of Viet Nam Social Security presented “Initial Results Report – Implementation of Recent Social Insurance Reforms to Expand Coverage,” linking the workshop discussions with the implementation of social insurance reforms aimed at expanding coverage in Viet Nam.

The workshop took place against the backdrop of significant changes in the labour market driven by technology, the digital economy, and flexible forms of employment. From examining the realities of platform work and analysing the issues facing social insurance policy to sharing international experience, the workshop provided a forum for multi-stakeholder dialogue among regulators, experts, international organizations, and businesses.

The research, information, and experience shared at the workshop provide additional practical evidence for the continued study, improvement, and implementation of social insurance policies, with a view to expanding social insurance coverage, better ensuring workers’ social protection entitlements, and responding appropriately to changes in the labour market in the digital economy.