Lee EuiChul, General Director of Shinhan Life Vietnam.

As the third Korean life insurance company operating in the Vietnamese market since January 2022, Shinhan Life has consolidated its position with a line-up of reasonably priced protective insurance products, enabling most people access to insurance.

Lee EuiChul, General Director of Shinhan Life Vietnam, speaks to Việt Nam News about the company’s development strategy to achieve its goals in Việt Nam’s fierce and attractive insurance market.

Could you please give a brief introduction of Shinhan Life Vietnam Insurance Company?

Shinhan Life Vietnam is the first overseas subsidiary of Shinhan Life Insurance Corporation, a member of Korea-based Shinhan Financial Group. Establishing a representative office in Hà Nội in 2015 after many years of market research, Shinhan Life decided to invest in the Vietnamese market with an initial charter capital of about US$100 million, equivalent to VNĐ2.32 trillion. The Việt Nam subsidiary received its establishment and operation licence from the Ministry of Finance in February 2021. In January 2022, the company officially launched its insurance business in Việt Nam after almost a year building and improving the operating system and staff.

With Shinhan Life’s slogan being “Bring Wonders to Life”, we are committed to bringing interesting surprises to our clients. Embracing a new, young and dynamic brand image, we are focused on the Vietnamese middle class and set to conquer the insurance market in the future.

What are your company’s advantages, disadvantages, and development directions in the Vietnamese market?

Shinhan Life’s biggest advantage is we have accumulated more than 30 years of experience in Korea, one of the world’s leading developed insurance markets. In addition, backed by Shinhan Financial Group with more than 20 years of operations in Việt Nam, we have in our hands first-hand advantages.

In addition, we are taking advantage of the knowledge and experience from the parent company, and powerful leverage from our two critical partners, Shinhan Bank and Shinhan Finance, to build and develop our own way in the Vietnamese market, a potential one with lots of room for development.

Representatives of Shinhan Life Vietnam and Shinhan Bank Vietnam sign strategic cooperation agreement on implementing the bancassurance business. Photo courtesy of Shinhan Life Vietnam

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To date, after nearly a year of operations, Shinhan Life is actively catching development opportunities and we believe that Shinhan Life will gain a foothold in this market, particularly with its protection insurance products.

Because of the pandemic over the past two years, the Vietnamese life insurance industry faced severe challenges in the first half of 2022. Not just in bancassurance, Shinhan Life is researching and developing other service distribution channels. Regarding the product portfolio, for now, we still focus on insurance products with reasonable premiums that everyone can get access to. After all, the core value of insurance is protection.

What do you think about current cooperation between Vietnamese and Korean businesses in finance and insurance?

Việt Nam and Korea have a close relationship in investment and trade, and finance - insurance is no exception. Shinhan Life is the third Korean life insurance company operating in the Vietnamese market. Besides, the non-life insurance sector also has recorded an increase in merger and acquisition deals between Korean companies and domestic companies. This proves that the Vietnamese market is always attractive to Korean investors.

Many Korean banks in Việt Nam have recently reported their triple-digit profit growth rates. Many more Korean banks and financial groups are seeking to enter the Vietnamese market. Despite more and more fierce competition, the financial and insurance market in Việt Nam is still extremely attractive.

Shinhan Financial Group is now present in many countries. Among them, Việt Nam is playing the role as a key market to the Group's global business, with a nationwide network of member companies. As an integral part in the ecosystem, Shinhan Life brings comprehensive financial solutions to Vietnamese clients. — VNS