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The Managing Director of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) today (Thursday) strongly urged all employers to enrol in the MPF Scheme immediately as the system will take effect on December 1.

Speaking at the Zonta Club (Hong Kong East) luncheon meeting, Mr Rafael Hui pointed out that there was a misconception amongst some employers that they could afford to wait till the last moment to sign up for a scheme.

“There is nothing to be gained by leaving it to the last minute but to make things difficult for both themselves and the trustees,” he said, warning that it also might cause anxiety and discontent amongst employees because they too would need time to choose their investment funds.

After two years of hard work by the MPFA, the new system is ready to push full steam ahead.

Mr Hui described MPF as one of the biggest social programmes ever undertaken in Hong Kong and is completely new.

“Despite all the painstaking preparation,” he said, “the system, as of today, remains untried and untested before actual implementation.”

It deals with 300,000 employers, a 3.4 million workforce and a conservatively estimated annual contribution of $10 billion rising to $60 billion in 30 years.

“The challenge, therefore, is for the Government, the MPFA, the MPF industry and the community, all in the same boat, to navigate through the uncharted waters with flexibility, sensitivity and practical sense,” said Mr Hui.

Crucial to the success of any major social programme is wide participation and that MPF can be no exception, and we cannot rely on voluntary participation alone, he pointed out.

Noting that only about a third of the local workforce were protected by voluntary schemes for all these years, meaning that over two million workers were unable to enjoy similar protection, he said this was why the law had made MPF compulsory and legislation must be the backbone to the system.

“But its flesh and blood can only come from a strong culture that fully appreciates the importance of sustainable and realistic retirement protection,” he added.

Mr Hui felt that there was a need to build a culture that could embrace long term perspectives, accommodate long term interests for the community as a whole and accept MPF as a basic right of employees rather than a give-away at the discretion of the benevolent employer.

He said he had no doubt that building an ‘MPF-friendly’ culture would be one of the biggest challenges for the MPFA and the Hong Kong community in the next few years.

In this respect, the MPFA has embarked on a vigorous public education and publicity campaign with assistance from labour unions, trade associations, the District Councils, the MPF industry and many others.

Its hotline service, which provides useful and practical information to members of the public, has handled over 60,000 enquiries since the beginning of this year.

“The MPF system is now in final cast and will soon stand tall as a milestone that points the way forward to a new era of retirement protection starting December 1,” said Mr Hui.

“MPF will become part of our way of life in 70 days’ time,” he said, adding that it would represent quantum leap in the development of the retirement protection infrastructure.

– Ends –

21 September 2000