Strong pension schemes key for a stable nation

Manama : Having strong pension schemes could solve many issues and be a catalyst for social peace in nations, experts said during a high level panel discussion yesterday. 

The panel discussion titled ‘Social Peace in Countries in Transition’ was hosted by International Peace Institute, Middle East & North Africa (IPI, MENA) as part of their ‘Global Leaders Series’ at its premises in Manama yesterday. Lundeg Purevsuren Senior Adviser to the President of Mongolia and Dr. Samer Khanachet Group Chief Operating Officer of KIPCO and Chairman of Takaud Savings & Pensions participated in the discussion.

IPI MENA Director Nejib Friji described pension schemes as vital for every nation, especially countries in transition. “With the unemployment rate and social problems, pension is a very crucial source of income
for many. Looking from a social peace perspective, pension would cement the partnership between government, private sector and trade unions,” he said.

Dr. Khanachet, while speaking about the correlation between strength of pension schemes and social peace, urged the listeners to learn from Chile’s successful and stable pension scheme. “Chile implemented an elaborate pension scheme while Argentina did not
and Argentina has been politically, socially and economically unstable,”
he said. 

He also said the private sector plays an important role in pension schemes. “The government cannot do it all by themselves, there are so many other pressures - political and social pressures that
they deal with. So the private sector and the individuals need to play their part. The
rules and laws concerning pension schemes must be revised regularly,” he said.

Bahrain, a perfect partner

In his speech, Purevsuren said Bahrain is a perfect partner for Mongolia and that the Kingdom can serve as a gateway to GCC. “Our first foreign policy is to have close cooperation with our neighbouring countries, while second is to have good relation with the ‘third neighbours’ and Bahrain is exactly what we wanted,” he said.