On November 22, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Laos and the 45th anniversary of the signing of the Vietnam-Laos Treaty of Amity and Cooperation; and on the occasion of the 39th ASSA Meeting in Laos, the VSS will have a bilateral meeting with the MOLSW and LSSO to summarize and evaluate the results of cooperation activities in the period 2016-2020. Simultaneously, the two parties will sign a Memorandum of Understanding for the period 2022-2025. This event contributes to consolidating and enhancing the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos in accordance with the direction of the Party and Government in the year of Vietnam-Laos Treaty of Amity and Cooperation 2022.

The meeting will review and evaluate the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the two sides for the period 2016-2020

Accordingly, activities are expected to continue cooperation and implementation by the two sides in the coming time, including the sharing of experiences on implementing reform of administrative procedures in social security; digital transformation in social security; the law on inspection in the field of social and health insurance; on formulating and implementing social security regimes and policies; on expanding cooperation areas in accordance with the capabilities and needs of each party, etc.

In particular, on this occasion, the VSS will award the Medal 'For the cause of Vietnam Social Security' to individuals with excellent achievements in developing the cooperation relationship between the VSS and Lao Social Security Organization (LSSO). The recipients include Padeumphone Sonthany - Deputy Minister of the MOLSW; Keo Chanthavixay - General Director of the LSSO.

Since 1998, the VSS has established a cooperation relationship with the MOLSW, specifically, LSSO. Until December 2015, at the 38th meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee on bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and Laos, under the witness of the Government leaders of the two countries, the VSS and the MOLSW signed a Memorandum of Understanding and a specific action plan for the 2016-2020 period as a basis and orientation for further cooperation activities between the two sides. Since then, the two agencies have continuously had close cooperation activities within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding, specifically the exchange of high-level delegations, and technical delegations to learn and share practical experiences on the implementation of social security, and actively participate in international conferences and seminars organized by the two sides.

The Memorandum of Understanding with 8 signed articles creates a legal basis for the promotion and further development of cooperative relations in the field of ensuring social security between the two countries in the future; develop a mechanism for coordination and cooperation between the VSS and the MOLSW in building the capacity of officials to implement social security policies in the 2016-2020 period. Minutes on establishing the coordination mechanism between the two parties in improving the capacity of officials to develop documents guiding the professional process of implementing the social and health insurance regimes; improve staff capacity in implementing social and health insurance policies and providing public services; improve staff capacity in proposing and advising on the development of social and health insurance policies; share good experiences in formulating and implementing social and health insurance policies.

After five-year implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation Action Program between the VSS and the MOLSW and overcoming difficulties caused by the global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the two sides continue to actively participate in online activities to exchange information and share experiences bilaterally and multilaterally (in ASEAN region) hosted by the two sides in the years 2020- 2022.

In August 2022, in Quang Nam, the VSS and LSSO held a conference to review and evaluate the results of bilateral cooperation in the period 2016-2022 and orientation for cooperation in the period 2022-2025. The LSSO emphasized the need to study and exchange experiences with the VSS in terms of organizational structure, functions, tasks and operating mechanism of the VSS Board of Commissioners and experiences in social insurance inspection and disseminating social security policies to the people.

Recently, the delegation of the Cultural and Social Committee of the Lao National Assembly (NA) also had a working session with the VSS. The leaders of the two agencies made an agreement to strengthen the exchange of experiences in the implementation of social and health insurance, in which, the VSS will continue to support Laos in expanding coverage of social and health insurance; effective fund management and investment; building insurance databases; comprehensive digital transformation; amending the Law on Social Insurance, etc./.