VIENTIANE, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (ILO News) – A delegation from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People's Republic of China (MOHRSS) recently visited the Lao People’s Democratic Republic to foster collaboration in the realm of social protection. The visit comes at a pivotal moment as Lao People’s Democratic Republic is in the process of amending its Social Security Law.

Led by Yanli Zhai, Director of the Social Insurance Agency, the Chinese delegation engaged in discussions during the official launch of the International Labour Organization (ILO) project, "Accelerating Universal Social Protection for Achieving the SDGs and Ending Poverty through Strengthened Governance and Digital Transformation." The delegation also participated in the project's first project advisory committee meeting and paid courtesy visits to the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and the Lao Social Security Organization on November 9-10, 2023.

The visiting delegates, together with the ILO and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), discussed the implementation of the new project, leveraging South-South and Triangular Cooperation while accelerating efforts towards strengthening the national social security system and attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to social protection.

Vilayphong Sisomvang, Director General of Planning and International Cooperation, Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare of Lao PDR, highlighted the significance of the visit, stating, “This visit plays a very important role for the two countries. It strengthens our ties and we have exchanged a lot on the topic of social protection. We also discussed and reached an agreement on the newly launched project’s work plan.”

Yanli Zhai, Director of the Social Insurance Agency, expressed appreciation for the project and the opportunity to collaborate closely with the Lao Social Security Organisation and the ILO. He emphasized the similarities between China and Lao People’s Democratic Republic, laying the groundwork for cooperation, “As Asian countries, both China and Lao PDR share similarities in developing social security systems, which establishes the foundation for cooperation in the project. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security would like to provide technical support to the successful implementation of this project and eventually, social security development in Lao PDR.”

“We are very excited to work together with a wide array of partners in the area of social protection in Lao PDR”, said Oktavianto Pasaribu, Deputy Director and Officer-in-charge of the ILO Country Office for Thailand, Cambodia and Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

“As Lao PDR embarks on an amendment of its Social Security Law, it can greatly benefit from the experiences and lessons from other countries like China. The visit gave us an opportunity to start discussing where we can cooperate, such as expanding social security coverage to more people, especially in rural areas, digitalising operations efficiently, improving management and governance, and most importantly, bringing all these lessons and changes to national law to ensure that they can be sustainable,” he added.

Funded by the United Nations Peace and Development Fund, the project is jointly implemented by ILO and UNDESA, with MOHRSS serving as a technical partner. The project supports the Government of Lao People’s Democratic Republic in accelerating progress towards universal social protection and collaborates with national stakeholders to enhance institutional capacities related to the National Social Protection Strategy’s social security pillar.