The Conference on “Social welfare: Japan’s experience and suggestions to Vietnam” was held by Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) on 24 September 2013.
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International delegates attended the conference included Prof. Yoshinori Hiroi from Chiba University; Mr. Shintaro Nakamura, JICA’s expert in social welfare; Mr. Eiichiro Hayashi, coordinator of VASS-JICA Project in Vietnam; Mr. Takeshi Kasai, representing of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Vietnam, Mr. Hayashida Takayuki, representative of JICA Vietnam; Ms. Kumiko Kasajaro, representative of JICA Vietnam; and the representative of the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam. The Vietnamese delegates included Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Giang Hai, Director of International Cooperation Department, VASS; Assoc.Prof.Dr. Dang Nguyen Anh, Director of Institute of Sociology; Dr. Nguyen Van Tien, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Committee for Social Affairs; Mr. Nguyen Minh Thao, Deputy General Director of Vietnam Social Insurance; Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan Huong, Director of Institute of Labour, Science and Social Affairs, Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs; Ms. Tong Thi Song Huong, Director of Health Insurance Department, Ministry of Health; and experts, executives management and researchers from the research centers and research institutes of VASS.
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Asso. Prof.Dr. Nguyen Giang Hai
Director of International
Director of International Cooperation Department (VASS) opening the conference |
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Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Giang Hai, Director of International Cooperation Department, represented VASS to make the opening speech. The Conference on “Social welfare: Japan’s experience and suggestions to Vietnam” was within the cooperation framework of VASS and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), in the year of the 40th anniversary of Vietnam-Japan diplomatic relations. The bilateral relations between the two countries have become more and more developed extensively and intensively in many areas, which have produced practical and effective results.
As never before, social welfare and social welfare issues have been recently discussed a lot, both in Vietnam and the world, and not just by the media but also by policy makers of the country. Social welfare plays a major role in the market economy in general and in the period of crisis in particular and as the objective and orientation of the policy for the socio-economic development of the country.
Social welfare is a core for a stable and sustainable development in all countries for its contribution to the reduction of inequality and the vulnerability of the people, families and communities due to risks and uncertainties in life. In Vietnam, social welfare is one of the mainstays of the social policy system that lies among the concerns of the State and the Party. During the Doi Moi (reform) in Vietnam, the most fundamental problem is how to harmonize the economic growth and macroeconomic stability with the social security, as stated in the socio-economic development strategy for the 2011-2020 period by the Government of Vietnam.
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In fact, however, the coverage of health insurance in Vietnam is still of a low rate, either the level of insurance use. People are not really keen on health insurance due to the limited quality of health care services covered by insurance. While Vietnam has already entered into the period of aging population, the level of social insurance participation remains low and the unbalanced pension fund is in danger of a break in the next ten years. The state management of social insurance and health insurance are generally under the social requirements.
The papers were presented at the Conference comprised the “Health insurance and social insurance in Japan” (Prof. Yoshinori Hiroi, Chiba University), “Vietnam Health Insurance: Issues and directions” (Dr. Nguyen Van Tien, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Committee for Social Affairs), “Health insurance policy and the practice in Vietnam” (Nguyen Minh Thao, Deputy General Director of Vietnam Social Insurance), “Income policy for the elderly” (Shintaro Nakamura, JICA’s social welfare expert), “The situation and challenges of the social insurance in Vietnam” (Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan Huong, Director of the Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs, Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs).
The papers focused on the two key problems of the social security, health insurance and social insurance, in order to analyze the similarities and differences of the social security models and the development of the two countries. This was a forum for academic exchange and sharing experience of developing and perfecting the social security system in Vietnam and Japan. Relying on that, some suggestions were proposed to Vietnam.
Nguyen Thu Ha
