23 per cent
SOCIAL SECURITY
FNPF membership grew by this figure last year to stand at 441, 663 from 357,662 members in 2009.
Fiji was chosen as the location for the International Social Security Association (ISSA) Pacific Focal Point because of its unique location and its centrality to the region.
This were the words of the president of the ISSA Professor Joachim Breuer yesterday, while unveiling the ISSA Pacific Focal Point, at Suva’s Grand Pacific Hotel. The new office will located at FNPF’s headquarter in Suva.
Social security for all ages
Speaking on social security, he said social security was for the people and by the people of all ages.
Mr Breuer said there were more people who wanted to tell success stories at the risk of denying tales of failure.
He encouraged people to share their tales of failure in order for ISSA to help improve processes involved in doing things better. “Learning from your failures is the best way to greet success.
“Do not tell what you have achieved. Let us know what you have not achieved to learn from where others have done wrong.”
The inevitable onset of the robot age should remove the element of fear for the future prospects of the human race.
“There will always be work to do even when machines come in to make our work lighter,” he said.
Speaking at the unveiling of the ISSA Pacific Focal Point, he said the robot age would bring with it an age of opportunities.
“My forecast in the future is that we will see a new world order that will need more social security.” ISSA is an organisation that brings together 350 members from 160 countries, or three million people who worked together in the respective organisations covering for three billion people around the globe, and were responsible for an annual budget of around US$ 7 trillion (FJ$1 5.25 trillion).
Fiji and Samoa are the two ISSA member countries of the South Pacific. The forecast for 2030 is that 800 million people on the globe will be older than 75 years old, he said.
The older people get, the more the risk of long term care, Mr Breuer said. He further added there were less than 10 countries on the globe who had a social security system focused on long term care.
Fiji National Provident Fund chief executive officer Jaoji Koroi said social security was becoming
a basic human right.
He said FNPF would extend its coverage to include the informal sector where they hoped to sign up 125,000 workers. He added 88 per cent of the population earned low wages in 2019 or less than $30,000. The subsequent impact on the retirement populus would be retirement packages of less than $10,000 within the next 10 years, for 128,000 retirees.
He said the fund was considering removing the $10 fee levied for withdrawal.
“Ten dollars is alot of money.”