Nguyễn Đức Hòa, director of Hà Nội Social Insurance, talks to Hà Nội Mới (New Hà Nội) newspaper about the project to provide social insurance for all workers

Why did the Hà Nội People’s Committee approve the project “Developing the number of people having social insurance and unemployment insurance in the period 2019-21 in Hà Nội”?

Social insurance and unemployment insurance are important parts of the social welfare system, so they receive attention from the State and the Party via a number of resolutions and laws.

In recent years, social and unemployment insurance in Hà Nội have helped stabilise people's lives and provide social equality.

However, coverage of these two programmes is still low. Last year, more than 1.64 million people joined social insurance, making up 35.2 per cent of all workers in the city. More than 1.5 million people joined unemployment insurance, or 32.2 per cent of workers.

These numbers were modest because people were not aware of the role and target of the insurance programmes.

We set up the project to help more people get insurance.

What are the goals of the project?

The project targets that by 2021, 40 per cent of working-age people will have joined social insurance and 33 per cent of all workers will have joined unemployment insurance.

The project aims to ensure the central role of the social welfare system.

The Law on Labour, Law on Social Insurance and Law on Employment will be implemented along with regular inspections to ensure workers' rights and benefits are protected.

Can you speak more about volunteer social insurance?

Volunteer social insurance aims to ensure quality of life for workers when they grow old and can no longer work. Vietnamese citizens over 15 years old can buy the insurance. People buying volunteer social insurance can enjoy a pension and other allowances based on regulations. They will also be issued a health insurance card.

However, at present, the number of people buying volunteer social insurance in Hà Nội is very low because people are not aware of it.

What will Hà Nội do to make sure more people buy the insurance?

The project sets the roles and responsibilities of different sectors in educating residents about the benefits of joining social and unemployment insurance.

The municipal Social Insurance has joined with district people’s committees to the check the list of workers in every organisations and identify who should join the insurance.

More inspections will be carried out to search for enterprises failing to pay social insurance. Violators will receive strict punishment.

Education about the issue will be renewed with content and form suitable for different groups of residents in order to improve awareness about the role of insurance.

The Hà Nội Social Insurance will work with the municipal post office to organise more than 1,300 conferences and talk shows in residential areas to encourage people to sign up for volunteer social insurance. — VNS