Steering committee on wage policy reform convenes first meeting

Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue chaired the first meeting of the central steering committee for reform of wage and social insurance policies and incentive policies for national contributors in Hanoi on April 14.

Deputy PM Vuong Dinh Hue speaks at the meeting.

The steering committee was established pursuant to the PM’s Decision No. 43/QD-TTg dated February 12, 2017, with Deputy PM Vuong Dinh Hue being its head, Minister of Home Affairs Le Vinh Tan as permanent deputy head, and Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung and Finance Minister Dinh Tien Dung as deputy heads.

At the meeting, Minister of Home Affairs Le Vinh Tan reported on the steering committee’s operational plans in 2017 and in the subsequent years as well as the plan to research and draft an outline of the wage policy reform project. Meanwhile, leaders of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs presented the outlines of the reform projects of social insurance policies and incentive policies for national contributors.

The building and implementation of the three abovementioned projects were assigned to the government at the seventh congress of the 11th Party Central Committee, aiming to renovate and enhance the quality of social security policies, which are yet to meet the requirements of the Party and State as well as the aspirations of the people.

In his speech, Deputy PM Hue noted that reforming the wage policy was not merely the adjustment of the minimum wage but also the adjustment of the post and wage scale system and the structure of budget funding for the implementation.

With regards to policies for contributors, he said that the lives of national contributors have been improved remarkably over the past years, but many of them are still living below national standards and in some cases even in poverty.

Policies on social insurance also need to be strongly adjusted to strengthen the payment stability and efficiency of the Social Insurance Fund, a crucial security net of the State, Politburo member Hue added.

He assigned the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs to manage the implementation of the abovementioned projects, asking the two ministers to direct the building and finalisation of the projects respectively assigned to the two ministries.

The deputy PM asked the steering committee and relevant ministries to promptly finalise the projects and hold workshops, both at home and abroad, to collect feedback relating to the projects.

After being finalised by the government, the three project outlines will be reported to the Politburo in order to be submitted to the seventh congress of the 12th Party Central Committee in 2018, so that the congress can discuss and approve a resolution on the abovementioned contents.

(Source: NDO)