HANOI, 17 September 2022 – International Conference “Population aging and its impacts on economic development” was held by Institute of World Economics and Politcs (IWEP) on 16 September 2022 at Hall 3D, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences in Hanoi both onsite and virtually.
The conference brought together Vietnamese and international academia, experts and officials from various universities, research institutes and relevant organizations such as University of Labor and Social Affairs, National Economics University, The Center for Analysis and Forecast, Dai Nam University, Vietnam Institute of Indian and Southwest Asian Studies, the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam, Vin University (Singapore), Nanhua University (Taiwan, China), The Academy of Guangzhou Development Research (China), and Nikkei Inc. (Japan).
In his opening remarks, Dr. Phi Vinh Tuong, Acting Director General of IWEP indicated that the world has been struggling with population aging for decades; however, in the past, it was mainly discussed in advanced economies. Today population aging is not only a challenge to developed nations but also to developing countries across the globe.
During the conference, experts pointed out that aging population has exerted a series of impacts on economic issues (including employment, labour shortage and labour immigration, etc.) as well as social issues (including elderly care and cultural conflicts between permanent citizens and migrants, etc.). However, thanks to industrial revolution, particularly the adoption of artificial intelligence and information and communication technology has contributed to the development of elderly supporting services, generation of new jobs and opportunities of employment, and prolonging the working life beyond state pension age.
The conference also noted that special attention should be given to measures to mitigate aging population’s impacts on economic development. Policy recommendation revolved around the following priorities: increasing the birth rate, providing older workers with opportunities to upgrade their skills to encourage them to continue working, industrial transformation, nurturing talent, revision of immigration policies, building prosperous societies with the use of many more technological innovations that can protect the elderly and improve labor productivity, and so on.
LLAnh – Translated: Thuc Thuy Tien