Attending the signing ceremony, there were Mr. Ted Osius - former US Ambassador to Vietnam, Chairman and General Director of USABC Council; Mrs. Elizabeth Dugan - Vice President of USABC Operations, Deputy Regional Executive Director of USABC; Mr. Vu Tu Thanh - Chief Representative of USABC in Vietnam; leaders of US enterprises and leaders of some units of Vietnam Social Security (VSS).

General Director Nguyen The Manh and Mr. Ted Osius signed the Action Plan

At the signing ceremony, General Director Nguyen The Manh said, the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic has become an urgent problem of global health, slowing down the economic development process, and hindering the economic development process to achieve sustainable development goals, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Vietnam is the country with the highest rate of Covid-19 vaccination for those aged 18 years and over in the world (at over 98%), of which booster shots are approximately 40%.

“In order to achieve these impressive results, in addition to efforts in implementing the Government's policies on safe adaptation, flexible action and effective disease control, it is also thanks to the help of the U.S. government, through the Covax mechanism and the companionship with the Government and people of Vietnam from the US business community, including the USABC Council." - Manh shared.

Regarding the health insurance policy in Vietnam, General Director Nguyen The Manh informed, after 30 years of implementation, by the end of 2021, the whole country has more than 88.8 million people participating in health insurance, reaching a coverage rate of more than 91% of the population.

To ensure the effective implementation of the health insurance policy and sustainable development, VSS and USABC have agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding in the field of health insurance implementation on March 9, 2022 in Hanoi, Vietnam. “Today's signing ceremony aims to concretize the activities of the two sides, contributing to the development of universal and sustainable health insurance; helping Vietnamese people access medical care and enjoy a quality and effective health insurance scheme. This is also an activity to deepen the Vietnam-US relationship in the coming time.” - Manh emphasized.

Representatives of the two organizations at the signing ceremony

Welcoming the delegation of the Government of Vietnam and VSS to Washington D.C., Mr. Ted Osius, President and CEO of USABC, the ASEAN-US Special Summit and the 45th Anniversary of US-ASEAN Relations are very important events. In particular, over the past time, the bilateral cooperation relationship between Vietnam and the United States has increasingly expanded in all fields. "Today's meeting between VSS and USABC is a clear proof of this," emphasized Mr. Ted Osius.

Over the past two years, the Covid-19 pandemic has shown the state of health systems globally, disrupting supplies, and causing serious socio-economic disturbances, according to Ted Osius, globally and regionally. However, it also shows the need to promote multidisciplinary cooperation to solve global problems such as Covid-19.

These factors have strongly motivated USABC to expand the Memorandum of Understanding model with important agencies in the field of health care in different countries, including the VSS. Mr. Ted Osius hopes that, through the MoU, the Council and USABC members will play a more important role in supporting Vietnam's health care system to address global challenges such as the Covid-19 pandemic, supporting and facilitating the goals and priorities of Vietnam's people's health care.

General Director Nguyen The Manh presents a souvenir to Mr. Ted Osius

General Director Nguyen The Manh presents a souvenir to Mr. Ted Osius

“We hope this Memorandum of Understanding will help build a strong partnership between our two organizations by exchanging ideas and best practices for developing Vietnam - US relations, especially in the field of social security," said Mr. Ted Osius.

According to the proposed action plan, the two sides will cooperate in the following areas: Research and share international experiences on sustainable development of universal health insurance; research and share international experiences on the implementation of social and health insurance policies; support and coordinate in organizing conferences and seminars to share practical experiences and scientific information; support research and staff training, visit to learn experiences in some countries with good social security systems.