Phnom Penh—H.E. HENG Sophannarith, Deputy Director General representing H.E. OUK Samvithyea, Delegate of the Royal Government in charge as Director General of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and Chairman of the ASEAN Social Security Association (ASSA) in the year 2020-2021, presided over the International Webinar on “Social Protection in the face of Digitalization and Economic Uncertainties” and said in this morning that the digitalization is considered a significant catalyst for promoting the economic growth with sustainability and inclusiveness as well as social welfare in the regional and global movement, especially for the post-COVID-19 economic recovery.
He added that as chairman and member of the ASEAN Social Security (ASSA) focusing on the social security sector, we all must adopt and maximize the benefits of advances in information and communication technology and digital technology to increase productivity and economic efficiency and boost the national economic growth in order to enable the citizens to benefit from the use of digital services with high inclusiveness, reliability, trustworthiness and high security.
He certified that the digitalization also plays the following significant roles in social protection:
- First, meet the demand of client-centric with effectiveness and punctuality by providing beneficial services such as registration, benefit claim, contribution payment, and relevant information;
- Second, promote the data quality, data management, as well as data exchange and interoperability;
- Third, enables delegation of approval authority with effectiveness and efficiency in order to support the staff with the right processes, the right systems, and the right policies; and
- Forth, reduce the administration cost at the lowest level.
In this international webinar, he also mentioned that the crisis of COVID-19 pandemic continues to provoke the threats, uncertainties, and high risk to public health, health system, livelihood, and participation in the socio-economic activities.
In response to such tough circumstance, he added that social protection plays a vital role in contributing to promoting health and livelihood of the people by ensuring income security and social stability in the financial uncertainties.
It is certified that the above-mentioned international webinar was hosted by BPJS Ketenagakerjaan of the Republic of Indonesia with the participation of 22 ASSA member institutions of 10 ASEAN Nations via Zoom Meeting.
