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The Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) System, launched on 1 December 2000, will have been in operation for 15 years next month. The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) has published a book titled Towards Retirement Security, which reviews trends and developments in retirement protection systems in Hong Kong and overseas, showing approaches adopted by different societies to respond to the issue. The MPFA hopes the book will deepen the public’s understanding of the role of the MPF System in Hong Kong’s overall retirement protection framework.
 
In the book’s foreword, MPFA Chairman Dr David Wong writes that there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution for retirement protection. The MPF System was a breakthrough in the history of Hong Kong social policy. “One of the strengths of the MPF System is that it is helping the current generation to take care of part of its own arrangements for retirement protection, rather than simply passing the burden to the next generation,” he writes.
 
He points out that the MPF System, after all, is only one of the pillars of retirement protection, intended to complement the other pillars of retirement support, such as Government social security programmes and individual savings arrangements, to provide for total retirement savings adequacy for the population.
 
He also writes that Hong Kong, like many other developed economies, has an ageing population, and that ensuring a reasonable standard of living after retirement for the entire population is a major item on the agenda of many governments. He hopes the book will provide useful information and insights for everyone who is concerned with the issue of retirement protection.
 
Towards Retirement Security is available in both Chinese and English versions. The online versions are available on the MPFA website. Members of the public are welcome to download and read the book.
 

Cover of Towards Retirement Security

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27 November 2015