Vietnam: Improved regulatory framework fuels insurance industry growth
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Jan 2020
Vietnam’s insurance market continued to see strong growth in 2019, according to Ministry of Finance director of the insurance management and supervision department Phung Ngoc Khanh.
Mr Khanh told Tinnnhanhchungkhoan that factors which helped boost insurance growth included improvements to the legal framework. New regulations have removed red tape for insurers, supported the creation of new products, and helped insurers to improve their capacity, he said.
At the same time, insurers also proactively adjusted their business strategies to cope with falling government bond interest rates and restructured insurance products, especially life insurance plans. Bancassurance and online channels have expanded.
The financial results of the industry seem to support this view. In the first 11 months of 2019, total premium revenue was VND140,911bn ($6bn), an increase of 20.5% compared to the corresponding period in 2018. Payouts of insurance benefits reached VND38,590bn. Total equity of insurance companies reached VND96,997bn at the end of November 2019, up 26% compared to 12 months previously.
Currently, Vietnam insurance market has 66 insurance entities operating in it, including 30 non-life insurers, 18 life insurers, 15 insurance brokers, two reinsurers and one foreign non-life insurance branch. A