Faced with the limitations of an aging and shrinking population, Korean insurers are looking to the Vietnamese market and its population of nearly 100 million for expansion.
Currently, seven Korean insurance companies ― Hanwha Life, Mirae Asset Life, Shinhan Life, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance, KB Insurance and Seoul Guarantee Insurance ― are operating either subsidiaries or as branches in Vietnam.
Some insurance companies, yet to establish local branches in Vietnam, have instead decided to strengthen partnerships with Vietnamese insurers, seeing the potential for overseas expansion in the Southeast Asian country.
NH Property & Casualty (P&C) Insurance signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with PVI Insurance, a Vietnamese non-life insurance company, earlier this week, the aim of which was to strengthen the partnership and expand reinsurance, business cooperation and networking between the two firms. PVI Insurance enjoys the largest market share among non-life insurers in Vietnam.
“NongHyup is strengthening business cooperation with Vietnam, which is rising as one of the largest markets in Southeast Asia. NH P&C will continue to pioneer a new market by enhancing mutual cooperation with PVI Insurance,” NH P&C CEO Choi Mun-seob explained.
DB Insurance has opted to make active investments in Vietnamese insurers, instead of establishing a direct affiliate in the country. The company has recently acquired a 75 percent stake in Saigon-Hanoi Insurance Corporation (BSH), the ninth non-life insurer in the Southeast Asian country. It is DB Insurance’s third acquisition of Vietnamese non-life insurers since it first acquired a 37.2 percent stake in Post and Telecommunication Joint Stock Insurance back in 2015 and a 75 percent stake acquisition of Vietnam National Aviation Insurance in February this year.
Source : Korea Times
