Day one meeting commences for the GCC’s 57th Technical Committee for Civil Retirement and Social Security Authorities
Abu Dhabi, 22nd January 2024: The 57th meeting of the permanent technical committee for civil retirement and social security authorities in the GCC region started today, and will run for the next three days at Dubai’s Marriott Hotel Al Jaddaf, in the presence of representatives and participants from civil retirement and social security authorities from across the GCC region, announced the General Pension and Social Security Authority.
The day one meeting agenda included a discussion about the technical committee’s governance work, whereby a proposal was presented and discussed by Saudi Arabia’s General Organization for Social Insurance to adopt a “pass-through” mechanism for urgent topics via video conferencing and meetings.
Topics such as reviewing and updating the unified extension protection system was explained, a process that is conducted by a working team from Saudi Arabia’s General Organization for Social Insurance and the General Organization for Social Insurance in Kuwait, who overlook unified controls and mechanisms when calculating additional amounts due from employers/entities, as result of late contribution payments for their insured employees.
Kuwait’s General Organization for Social Insurance highlighted its responsibility in implementing and supervising the GCC’s civil retirement and social security systems comparative study, while updating and circulating the comparative study on the GCC pension system, with emphasis on including any amendments in the law.
Representatives also discussed electronic connectivity with other networks in the GCC region, the status by which the information technology team are presently completing and discussing during periodic meetings.
Continuing to offer training and qualification courses to employees on pivotal subject matters such as retirement, actuarial studies and insurance protection was also discussed; an initiative that continues to be run in its 2nd session by the General Organization for Social Insurance in Saudi Arabia.
The necessity to increase the number of awareness campaigns during the next few years was jointly agreed upon during the meeting, starting with launching campaigns during 2024, 2025 and 2026 in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, respectively.
Latest developments in international cooperation initiatives were raised during the conference, and the international communication team was tasked with proposing programs that keep pace with aspirations, while focusing on challenges and opportunities, in addition to evaluating communication and research.
Other important topics discussed involved developing mechanisms for collecting contributions amongst authorities, reviewing unified forms regarding the collection process, and presenting proposals on the issue of terminating cash deposits in order to reach the required level of deposited funds, in a way that improves the collection process.
The unemployment system and the proposals presented by the General Organization for Social Insurance in Saudi Arabia, which supervises the implementation of the initiative was also raised, with emphasis on amending Article (5) of the protection extension system, adjusting the unemployment system in the GCC countries, and introducing the system in countries that have not yet implemented it.
The meeting will continue to discuss the rest of the topics on its agenda during the next two days.
