The event was co-chaired by Chairwoman of the Social Affairs Committee Nguyen Thuy Anh, Vice Chairman of the committee Bui Sy Loi, and standing member of the NA’s Committee for Economic Affairs Do Van Sinh. It also saw the presence of officials from other NA committees, representatives of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Vietnam Post Corporation, and experts in labour and social insurance.

Vice Chairman Bui Sy Loi said the Politburo’s Resolution No.21-NQ/TW and the Party Central Committee’s Resolution No.28-NQ/TW both aim to increase the public coverage of universal social insurance. The resolutions hope to expand the coverage to 35 million labourers in the informal sector – which remains a sector with much potential for voluntary social insurance members.

However, the number of voluntary social insurance participants has been particularly low over the last 10 years. There have been just over 240,000 people registered under this scheme to date. Most of whom already participated in compulsory social insurance and now continue to pay contribution under the voluntary scheme so as to become eligible for  retirement pensions. Therefore, it is very difficult to achieve the targets set out in the resolutions, he noted.

Bui Sy Tuan, Deputy Chief of the Office of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MOLISA), said that the number of informal jobs in Vietnam, estimated at around 18 million in 2016, is still very large and hasn’t shown any signs of decreasing. Such workers often do not have labour contracts or social insurance, do not participate in trade unions, nor have connections with other economic sectors, so they are usually not protected by labour laws or social security.

Therefore, ensuring social insurance for all labourers, including those in the informal sector, is considered both the target of and solution to achieving greater social equality, he said.

He added that the over 200,000 workers joining voluntary social insurance account for only 0.6 percent of total labourers in the informal sector and about 0.4 percent of the total workforce – a considerably modest figure.

Notably, more than 60 percent of voluntary participants were already covered by compulsory social insurance and now only continue to pay voluntary insurance contribution to become eligible for retirement benefits. That means over 99 percent of informal workers are still on the outside of the social security network.

Pointing to policymaking issues, Director of the MOLISA’s Department of Social Insurance Nguyen Truong Giang said the Social Insurance Law has yet to cover all groups eligible to take part in compulsory social insurance, there have been a lack of policies supporting people to join the voluntary scheme, and the conditional criteria for receiving retirement pensions are rather strict. Additionally, the social insurance policy has not presented an attractive voluntary scheme, as well as there being a shortage of connectivity and mutual assistance between social insurance schemes.

Meanwhile, some of the policy implementation problems include poorly structured targets for social insurance participants not appropriately assigned to localities, limited adherence to social insurance laws, inspections of social insurance policy implementation remaining below expectation, unfavourable conditions for people’s access to social insurance services, and incomplete IT application in the insurance sector.

At the workshop, delegates said that in order to expand the social insurance coverage of informal workers, synchronous measures must be taken to simultaneously attract new participants and limit those abandoning such schemes.

To develop new participants, it is necessary to survey household business owners along with company and cooperative managers and operators who do not receive a regular salary, and labourers with unfixed working hours to get an idea of their requirements.

The voluntary scheme should be revised to improve its attractiveness and flexibility. For example, appropriate support sourced from the State budget should be given to farmers, low-income earners, and informal labourers; short-term voluntary social insurance packages should be offered to give labourers more choices; and favourable conditions should be created for people to change between voluntary and compulsory insurance.

Meanwhile, to limit the number of people leaving the scheme, conditions to receive retirement benefits should be revised by gradually reducing the minimum number of contribution years from 20 years to 10 years, with appropriate benefit levels, to help the elderly with just a few years of working age left to join social insurance to access and benefit from the policy. Regulations on lump-sum insurance payments also need to be amended so as to reduce the number of lump-sum payouts. Additionally, connectivity and mutual assistance among different social insurance schemes need to be enhanced. 

Vietnam should also negotiate and sign bilateral social insurance agreements with other countries, officials said.

Regarding insurance policy implementation, it is necessary to step up communications activities that suit each group and region to promote the work’s effectiveness. Stronger inspections and examinations will help detect and deal with violations in a more timely manner. Further administrative reforms will help with policymaking and implementation, while creating favourable conditions for people and businesses to handle relevant procedures. The best possible conditions should be provided to boost labourers’ access to social insurance services, especially the voluntary scheme, by diversifying contribution payment and payout-receiving services via telecom and banking systems.

Concluding the workshop, Vice Chairman of the Social Affairs Committee Bui Sy Loi said that the event gave an overview of the voluntary social insurance situation in the informal sector, along with challenges, causes, and solutions to raising the percentage of informal workers covered by social insurance.

He affirmed that social insurance is protected by the State, and the State ensures people’s right to social security in line with the Constitution. The implementation of the social insurance policy needs the engagement of the whole political system so as to ensure sustainable social security for all people./.