Following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in October 2023, SESRIC and the Malaysian Social Security Organisation (SOCSO) held a virtual coordination meeting on 21 March 2024 to discuss and plan future collaboration. The meeting focused on identifying specific programmes for joint initiatives.

During the meeting, SESRIC presented several proposals for joint initiatives and activities with SOCSO within its mandated areas, namely statistics, research, and training. These proposals included collaboration on the preparation of the OIC Labour Market Report to be submitted to the Islamic Conference of Labour Ministers, where SOCSO could contribute by sharing its social security experiences. SESRIC also proposed SOCSO’s contributions to the SESRIC Statistical Capacity Building Programme (StatCaB), which includes areas such as Labour Statistics and Social Protection Statistics, as well as the 13^th Session of the OIC Statistical Commission scheduled for October this year.

Additionally, SESRIC outlined upcoming capacity building activities falling under the OIC Public Employment Services Network (OIC-PESNET) Work Plan for 2024-2026, the Vocational Education and Training Programme for the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC-VET) Programme, and the Public Employment Services Capacity Building Programme (PES-CaB). SOCSO was invited to contribute and benefit from these activities, which include activities such as Empowering Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs), Developing Women and Girls’ Employability Skills, Financing Mechanisms for Social Security, and Diagnosing and Analysing Markets with High Exports Potential for SMEs.

SOCSO expressed their readiness to progress and indicated their commitment to identifying concrete programmes and activities for collaboration, building on the MoU signed between SESRIC and SOCSO.