Khanh Hoa, September 18 (VNA)–The challenges and opportunities of ASEAN social securityinstitutions in the Industry 4.0, as well as the free flow of labour areboth high on the agenda for the ongoing 35th ASEAN Social Security Association (ASSA)Board Meeting in Nha Trang city, in the central province of Khanh Hoa.

Assoc. Prof. Dr.Tran Dinh Thien, former head of the Vietnam EconomicsInstitute, said that global digital connection through the Internet and othersmart tools has opened up many chances for people to increase their general income,however, high risks are unavoidable.

In particular, cyber security risks and social security challenges aretwo pressing issues as the influx of new technologymay cause the destruction of some especially manual jobs, it will also create furtheremployment that requires new skills be learnt, he said.

“The requirements and conditions for renovation to social insurance activitieswill become vigorous and urgent,” Thien said.

He suggested that Vietnam formulate a digital transformation strategy andmanage the system intelligently, adding that“the countryshoulddevelopdigitally-linked infrastructure and cyber security and createdigital human resources.”

Talking about the opportunities and challenges of the social securitysystem in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Jens Schremmer, Head of the Officeof the Secretary General of the International Social Security Association, saidthat Industry 4.0 will help promote social security, including expanding socialinsurance coverage.

However, the digital economy will also create new jobs which will affect thetraditional ones, thus creating gaps in social security coverage and cybersecurity protection, he added.

“Social security institutions will make the difference,” he said,stressing the need to shape social security for tomorrow’s society.

According to Robert Palacios, Senior Pension Economist at the World Bank, in theFourth Industrial Revolution, changes in thelabour market are predictable, requiring workers to strengthen their capacityto meet market demand.

This also poses a question of human resource trainingand redesigning social security policy to increase the coverage by improving therelationship between employers and employees, as well as between the Governmentand the informal economic sector.

“This is a race between social securityand changes in the labour market,” RobertPalacios noted.

Deputy Director General of the Vietnam Social Security Tran Dinh Lieu said thatthe information and experiences shared at the seminar will create a basis forgovernments and policy makers of ASSA member countries to improve their socialsecurity policies to ensure the rights of workers, especially migrant ones, toadapt to the new requirements in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

“It demonstrates a high sense of responsibility of regional social security organisationsto ensure the practical benefits of people in the regionin accordance with theASEAN Vision 2025 for a more rules-based andpeople-centred ASEAN Community,” according to Lieu.

The ASSA was found in 1998 following the signing of a Memorandum ofAgreement in Bangkok, Thailand on February 13 that year, involving heads ofsocial security institutions from five countries - the Philippines, Indonesia,Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Representatives from Laos and Vietnam alsoattended the signing ceremony as observers. Later the year, the Vietnam SocialSecurity became a member of ASSA.

This is the fifth time the Vietnam Social Security has chaired the ASSABoard Meeting. It undertook the chairmanship during the 2002 – 2003 term andsuccessfully organised the ASSA Board Meeting in 1999, 2002, 2005 and 2010. ASSAmembers now comprise 19 social security institutions from ten ASEANnations.-VNA