Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs speaks at the NA meeting

In his presentation, Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung said the draft revisions aim to institutionalize principles of a multi-tiered, universal social insurance system and address inadequacies of the current law.

He said the social pension is the first tier in a multi-tiered social insurance system. The social pension is provided by the state budget aiming to help workers who are of old age and without pension or monthly social insurance. Minister Dung said more policies should be implemented to increase the assistance for these people.

The Minister also said the age eligible for social pension benefits is proposed to be reduced from 80 to 75 years old and will be gradually reduced toward the age of pension eligibility. The adjustment shall be made in alignment with the socio-economic development situation and the State’s budget capacity. The schedule and level of adjustment will be decided by the National Assembly and the National Assembly Standing Committee.

For lump-sum social insurance payments, Minister Dao Ngoc Dung said this is a big, important, and sensitive issue, both in terms of its socio-political and highly professional nature.

He said the drafting committee and the Government will continue to carefully consider and collect more opinions from beneficiaries and employers to design an appropriate plan which shall still allow lump-sum withdrawal while retaining workers in the system in order to ensure social security and pensions for old age people.

Minister Dao Ngoc Dung commented that it is currently difficult to come up with an optimal solution, but the one with the most advantages is most favored.