At the HCM City workshop entitled ‘Good governance for better social security services’ hosted by Viet Nam Social Security as the President of ASEAN Social Security Association (ASSA) in the term of 2018 – 19, Ortiz D. Maribel, an expert from the International Social Security Association, said the structure of social security might differ among countries.

Malaysia has several agencies working in the field while Viet Nam has only one - Viet Nam Social Security, operating in a vertical structure.

No matter how many agencies, they all serve a common goal. This allows them to learn from each other. However, an organisation’s characteristics are defined by the country’s culture. Therefore, it is not recommended to completely apply the original model of one organisation. Selecting suitable factors and creating an authentic identity based on common principles of governance including clarity, transparency and responsibility are important.

Philip O’Keefe, an expert from the World Bank, mentioned case studies of failure.

According to him, enterprises and organisations, even big ones, fail to reach their goals. However, many of them learn how to deal with struggles and turn challenges into motivations to succeed. In the implementation of social security policies, failures of countries are worth researching for valuable experiences and lessons.

At the workshop, participants also discussed other topics of good governance for better social services, impacts of the fourth industrial revolution on good governance: chances and challenges, the application of information technology in implementing the occupational accident insurance regime, the fourth industrial revolution in connection with the national database, Japan’s system of drug price management, the drug price management in negotiation and solutions for drug management through centralised bidding and drug price negotiation.

Dao Viet Anh, deputy director of Viet Nam Social Security, highly appreciated the participation and discussions of representatives and experts. Their suggestions and recommendations will contribute to improve the governance and standardise the distribution of social security services to people in ASSA member countries.

After the workshop, a series of events will be held to raise awareness and change management methods in and out of the region to develop strategies for the satisfaction of individuals and businesses.

Viet Nam Social Security, as well as other social security organisations in the region, have adopted these strategies based on specific conditions and circumstances of each organisation and each country. We absolutely have the right to hope that the social security system of ASEAN will become one of the advanced governance models in the world in the near future./.