Vietnam: Nat CAT losses to exceed US$6.7 bln in next 50 years
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Dec 2016
Vietnam will likely face damages of more than VND141.2 trillion (US$6.7 billion) due to natural disasters in the next 50 years, the World Bank has said.
At a conference on Vietnam’s disaster risk financing held last month, the World Bank evaluated that Vietnam was exposed to many natural hazards, including typhoons, tornadoes and floods. About 60% of the total land area and 71% of the population are at risk of cyclones and floods.
The average economic loss from floods and typhoons was estimated at about 0.8% of the country’s GDP, Viet Nam News reported.
Mr Olivier Mahul, programme manager of disaster risk financing solutions, said that Vietnam would likely face an average damage to private and public assets of up to VND30.2 trillion per year.
He said that the Vietnamese government has funding sources such as contingency budgets at central and grassroots-levels, state reserves, financial reserve funds, disaster prevention and control funds, and donor grants.
However, the state budget seemed to be the main fund for disaster relief, and it is limited to such only. Other sources such as the disaster prevention and control funds had not been fully implemented across provinces due to some restrictions. Risk transfer instruments such as insurance are quite new and remain unpopular, he added.