Life insurance to grow at 25 per cent: forecast

Deputy Minister of Finance Huỳnh Quang Hải speaks at an event to mark the  二 五th Viêt Nam Insurance Day in Hà Nội last month. — VNS Photo

HCM CITY — The life insurance industry will grow at over  二 五 per cent this year, according to the Insurance Association of Việt Nam.

Its acting chairman, Trần Vĩnh Đức, said, “The Vietnamese economy is expected to grow at a rate of between  六. 八 per cent and  七 per cent in  二0 一 九.

“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 on Wednesday the association said last year the life insurance market performed well earning revenues of nearly VNĐ 一 一 六 trillion (US$ 五 billion).

Of this, VNĐ 八 八 trillion ($ 三. 八 million) was from premium income, an increase of  三 三 per cent, and the remaining VNĐ 二 八 trillion ($ 一. 二 million) was from proprietary investment, a  三0 per cent rise, the association said.

“Life insurers’ financial capacity improved with total assets rising  二 五 per cent to VNĐ 三0 二 trillion [$ 一 三. 二 billion]” Đức said.

The total provision made last year by companies was nearly VNĐ 二 二0 trillion ($ 九. 六 billion), up  三0 per cent, he said.

Life insurers settled claims of more than VNĐ 一 八. 六 trillion ($ 八 一 五 million) in  二0 一 八, up  一 七 per cent, he said.

The industry is making a great contribution to the economy, supplementing long-term investment in the economy last year by VNĐ 二 七 六 trillion ($ 一 二. 一 billion), a  三 三 per cent increase.

At a ceremony to mark the  二 五th Viêt Nam Insurance Day and  一 九th anniversary of the Insurance Association of Việt Nam (IAV) in Hà Nội last month, Deputy Minister of Finance Huỳnh Quang Hải 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