Local insurers have targeted to increase their total assets to 514.80 trillion USD this year. Photo baodautu.vnHanoi (VNS/VNA) -The insurance industry aims to maintain a high growth rate of 18.42 percentthis year, gaining revenue of 188.73 trillion VND (8.1 billion USD), accordingto the Ministry of Finance’s Insurance Supervisory Authority (ISA).
Besides the high growth in revenue, insurers have also set to increase theirtotal assets by 13.3 percent against last year to 514.80 trillion VNDin 2020, while reinvesting into the economy 433.06 trillion VND, up 15.1percent against last year.
To meet the targets, Pham Thu Phuong, deputy director of ISA, said theauthority would continue to improve mechanisms and policies, focusing onrestructuring to make the insurance market develop transparently, safely andefficiently as well as in line with international standards.
“In particular, ISA will focus all resources to complete the revised Law onInsurance Business as well as regulations to guide the implementation of thelaw to make it accordance with the country’s socio-economic developmentdirections as well as international rules,” Phuong said.
Notably, Phuong said, in order to further develop the market and improve thequality of insurance services, ISA would continue to consider and submit to theMinistry of Finance for licensing eligible foreign investors in insurance andre-insurance in Vietnam.
Besides deploying agricultural products as proposed by insurers, the agencywould also coordinate with other related agencies to research and deploy othernew insurance products in 2020.
Deputy Finance Minister Huynh Quang Hai said ISA also needed to closelyscrutinise and have comments from experts and insurers to draft the bestrevised Law on Insurance Business before submitting it to the authorities forconsideration.
In addition to maintaining stable and sustainable growth of the market, besidespromoting the training and publication of legal policies, Hai also requestedISA to further strengthen the inspection, supervision and handling ofviolations in the context of the insurance market’s fast growth.
Phuong reported that the insurance market retained high revenue of 160.18trillion VND in 2019, up 20.54 percent against the previous year.
Of this total, the revenue from non-life insurance premiums was nearly 52.39trillion VND and life insurance premiums was 107.79 trillion VND.
Besides maintaining a high growth rate, the financial status of insurance firmshas also improved in 2019, Phuong said. Their total assets are estimated tohave risen to 15.3 percent to 454.38 trillion VND.
During the period, insurance companies re-invested nearly 376.55 trillion VNDinto the economy, marking a rise of 16.36 percent year-on-year. They also paidout 44 trillion VND to customers.
According to experts, the fast-growing domestic insurance market should keepthriving thanks to rising living standards and a high gross domestic product(GDP) growth of more than 6 percent annually over the next three years.
The growth potential is great as the country has one of the world’s lowest lifeinsurance penetration levels at less than 1 percent of GDP. The averageinsurance premium in Vietnam stands at 30 USD, much lower than the globalaverage of 595 USD and Southeast Asia’s average of 74 USD.
ISA reported that the country has 66 insurance companies, which provide morethan 850 non-life insurance products and 450 life insurance products./.
VNA
