Life insurance forecast to grow 25 percent this year

HCM City (VNS/VNA) - The life insurance industry will grow at over 25 percent this year, according to the Insurance Association of Vietnam (IAV).

Its acting chairman, Tran Vinh Duc, said: “The Vietnamese economy is expected to grow at a rate of between 6.8 percent and 7 percent in 2019. Demand for insurance, particularly life insurance, will increase as more and more people and organisations started caring about insurance products. Thus, the market will keep growing.”

In a report released this week, the association said last year the life insurance market performed well, earning revenues of nearly 116 trillion VND (5 billion USD).

Of this, 88 trillion VND (3.8 billion USD) was from premium income, an increase of 33 percent, and the remaining 28 trillion VND (1.2 billion USD) was from proprietary investment, a 30 percent rise, the association said.

“Life insurers’ financial capacity improved with total assets rising 25 percent to 302 trillion VND (13 billion USD)” Duc said.

The total provision made last year by companies was nearly 220 trillion VND (9.5 billion USD), up 30 percent, he said.

Life insurers settled claims of more than 18.6 trillion VND (800 million USD) in 2018, up 17 percent, he said.

The industry is making a great contribution to the economy, supplementing long-term investment in the economy last year by 276 trillion VND (11.9 billion USD), a 33 percent increase.

At a ceremony to mark the 25th Vietnam Insurance Day and 19th anniversary of the Insurance Association of Vietnam in Hanoi last month, Deputy Minister of Finance Huynh Quang Hai stressed the need to raise public awareness of insurance, improve the industry’s financial capability and develop new insurance products.

He called on the IAV and the Ministry of Finance to help draft an Insurance Business Law.-VNS/VNA