TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesia's worker's social security agency (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan/BPJS-TK) plans to adopt Japan's Shauroshi model in a bid to expand its membership coverage. The plan gains support from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), BPJS-TK claims.

The support was delivered during a bilateral meeting between BPJS-TK president director Agus Susanto and JICA senior vice president Norito Suzuki and deputy director Masato Kumagai, said a release received by Bisnis.com on Tuesday, December 27.

Also present at the meeting was BPJS-TK's director of strategic planning and IT Sumarjono, the Shauroshi Federation Japan's president Kenzo Onisi, who is also the leader of as Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare.

Sharoushi is an agency model for acquiring social security participant is Japan. It has been applied since 1968 with a success rate of 98%. Sharousi performs the functions of acquisition, education, socialization and community consultation to Japanese workers in community organization called Jimukumiai.

In Indonesia, the Shauroshi model is adopted and developed under the name Indonesia's Social Security Shield/Driver Agents. BPJS-TK recruits individual to be trained and certified as Shield Agents, to get members, and then educate and consult them about labor social security.

As one of the milestones on the cooperation between the MHLW, JICA, the Sharoushi Federation, and BPJS-TK, the Shield or Perisai was tried out in Yogyakarta and Jember in October 2016 with excellent results.

According to Agus, the Shield agents have garnered 1,293 workers in Yogyakarta and 181 workers in Jember in just two months. These new members also have a premium payment rate of 100%.

Agus said BPJS_TK will implement the pilot project in nine more cities: Medan, Serang, Jakarta, Bandung, Bali, Kupang, Mataram, Manado, and Makassar, "to fast-track our membership coverage expansion and increase and provide protection for more workers—especially non-wage workers".

He hopes JICA's support will materialize and expand, including for BPJS-TK's capacity building in organizing retirement insurance. Japan's labor sector is currently faced with aging which is something that may well happen to Indonesia in 20 years.

Agus hopes that the cooperation can be actuated as a broader commitment, to ensure that both countries can exchange knowledge, research, and development in the field of social security.

"The main thing is to implement the Shauroshi system in Indonesia optimally," he said.

ADITYA BUDIMAN