Hanoi (VNA) - Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has directed VietnamSocial Security (VSS) to focus onexpanding coverage of compulsory and voluntary social insurance and raisingpublic awareness of its importance.

Speaking at an online conference held by VSS on December 24 to discuss developmentorientations in 2021, the Deputy PM highlighted the achievements of the sector in2020, especially health insurance coverage reaching 90.85 percent.

He attributed the results to the involvement of the entire political system,especially the coming together of Party committees, local authorities, and themedia, and the core role of VSS.

According to the Deputy PM, international organisations highly valueVietnam’s achievements in the insurance field, saying it took the country only17 years to reach health insurance coverage of 90 percent, while thebest-performing country spent 40 years doing likewise.

VSS was also the first unit to implement administrative reform and streamline itsorganisation apparatus, he said, noting that this not only serves the insurancesector’s development but also contributes to modernising the IT network for nationalgovernance.

He was also frank in pointing out shortcomings, such as the lowproportion of working-age employees participating in social insurance andvoluntary social insurance, and many enterprises not paying socialinsurance premiums on time.

The Deputy PM expressed his belief that in the near future, the social insurancesector will achieve the same feats as the health insurance sector as a whole.

In his opening remarks to the online conference, VSS General Director NguyenThe Manh stressed that Vietnam’s social insurance sector has achieved remarkableachievements, making important contributions to the implementation of socialprogress and equity, ensuring socio-political stability and people’s lives, andpromoting sustainable development in the country.

In 2020, the sector basically fulfilled assigned targets, tasks andplans set for the year, especially measures to support agencies, businesses,and people in responding to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters.

Social insurance coverage was expanded, with more than 16.1 millionparticipants, reaching 32.6 percent of working-age people. The number ofvoluntary social insurance participants was nearly 1.1 million, an increase of494,000 this year.

The country has nearly 13.3 million people covered by unemploymentinsurance. Health insurance coverage continued to record impressive growth,with about 88 million participants, accounting for 90.85 percent of thepopulation and exceeding by 0.15 percent the target set in Government ResolutionNo 01 and up 25.6 percent compared to 2015.

VSS processed over 133,300 dossiers for monthly pension and socialinsurance benefits this year, bringing the total number of monthly pensionersand social insurance beneficiaries to about 3.2 million./.