PH to host 41st ASSA meetings, climate change a main focus

The Philippines will chair the 41st ASEAN Social Security Association (ASSA) meetings, the first time the country will host the event in the last eight years.

In a press conference at Seda Bay Manila in Parañaque City on Monday, ASSA Chairperson Ahmad Zulqarnain Onin from Employer’s Provident Fund Malaysia and ASSA Vice Chairperson Jose Arnulfo Veloso from the Government Service Insurance Philippines (GSIS) discussed investments, innovations, and target goals for the current year’s ASSA Meetings.

“We’ve chosen this year’s theme to be navigating the future of social security, integration, innovation and inclusion… It really captures the essence of what is quite a drastic and pressing challenge within our region. This includes a rapidly growing population, high informal settlers, increasing cross-border mobility within (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and most recently, the accelerating effect of climate change,” said Onin.

ASSA is a regional cooperation platform for social security institutions with members in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Onin noted that the current meeting intends to finalize a sustainability pledge between participating countries that would help in dealing with the effects of climate change.

“This represents quite a significant step towards enhancing climate resilience within our social protection frameworks, and this has been a working pledge that reflects our collective resolve to address the great challenges posed by climate change,” Onin said

Veloso also stated that the $1.3 trillion combined social security assets of the ASEAN reflect the financial strength and capacity of ASSA members as players within the global market.

“The rapid transformation of our economies presents both opportunities and challenges… The rise of the digital economy, evolving employment patterns, and emerging social needs of our diverse populations demand our immediate attention. This is why our conference today is particularly relevant,” said Veloso.

“As the Philippines assumes the chairmanship from Malaysia, we will build upon the excellent work accomplished under Chairman Ahmad’s leadership,” he added.

The ASSA meetings for the year will feature 10 expert-led sessions on critical developments in social security administration from November 25 to 26, with the Philippines and Brunei assuming chairmanship and vice-chairmanship respectively.

“The success of this 41st meeting reaffirms GSIS’ capability to scale ASSA’s meaningful and lasting improvements for ASEAN. With the leadership demonstrated today by GSIS, I am optimistic that ASSA will continue to drive transformative change benefiting current and future generations,” Onin said. —RF, GMA Integrated News