HÀ NỘI – The insurance market in Việt Nam is poised for robust growth in 2017, bolstered by the anticipated improved economic outlook, along with the Government’s policies of promoting the services market.

Phùng Ngọc Khánh, Director of the Ministry of Finance’s Department of the Insurance Supervisory Authority, said in an interview with Thời báo Kinh Tế Việt Nam (Việt Nam Economic Time) that the Vietnamese economy was forecast to continue to post high economic growth, at around 6.5 per cent, in 2017.

In addition, the Government planned to focus resources on boosting the services market, including the insurance market.

Acording to Khánh, there is much room for growth in the insurance market, such as in insurance products for agricultural production and diseases, while demand for insurance products continues rising amid the country’s rapid international integration, coupled with improved awareness about the role of insurance.

The insurance market is on track towards double-digit growth this year, expected at more than 20 per cent, and forecasts are optimistic for 2017.

According to Phan Kim Bằng, president of the Việt Nam Insurance Association, insurance companies expect that the Government’s policies to create a framework for the development of new products, such as insurance for public assets and diseases, will be issued soon.

“The insurance market is poised for strong growth. Next year, the growth rates are expected at more than 25 per cent for life insurance and 14 per cent for non-life insurance."

The department’s statistics showed that the total revenue of the insurance market was estimated at VNĐ101,767 trillion (US$4.5 billion) in 2016, of which, insurance premiums totalled more than VNĐ86 trillion, representing a rise of 22.74 per cent over the same period last year.

Premiums for non-life insurance totalled VNĐ36.37 trillion in 2016, increasing by 14.69 per cent over the previous year, while life insurance increasing by 34.26 per cent to reach VNĐ69.7 trillion.

Total assets of insurers also increased by 18.2 per cent to total VNĐ239.4 trillion.

However, experts said that the shortage of quality human resources, such as actuarial services, remained a challenge to the development of the insurance market. - VNS