Half of labor force to join social insurance by 2020

The sector also targets to increase the healthcare insurance coverage rate to 80% of the population by 2020.

To realize the aforesaid targets, the Government said it is necessary to boost the dissemination of information on the rights, obligations, and ways to buy insurance.

The insurance sector will coordinate closely with People’s Committees of all levels in making a list of children under six to ensure timely issuance of healthcare insurance cards for them.

Viet Nam is said to have a potential insurance market, thus, more foreign insurers have come to the country in recent years. Joining forces with domestic partners in doing business is the way many of them have chosen to penetrate the local market.

In early 2013, Sun Life Financial from Canada made its official presence in Viet Nam by becoming a partner in PVI Sun Life, a joint venture between the Canadian insurer and PetroVietnam Insurance (PVI).

PVI is believed to have big advantages in non-life insurance with 21% of the market share in 2011. Meanwhile, Sun Life Finance has 150-year experiences in the life insurance sector and it is considering expanding the Asian market.

Cooperating with domestic partners to penetrate the domestic market proves to be the choice of many global insurance groups. In 2012, Australian AIG bought 30% of AAA’s stakes in a deal worth US$20 million.

The best known affair in the insurance market was the one undertaken by Japanese Sumitomo Life late last year. The insurer officially set its foot in the Vietnamese market after spending US$340 million to buy 18% of Bao Viet’s stakes from HSBC to become the strategic shareholder in the biggest insurance group in Viet Nam.

Earlier this year, Italian Generali announced the plan to increase its chartered capital to VND800 billion to scale up its business in Viet Nam. Bao Viet has got the nod from the watchdog agency to increase its chartered capital from VND1,500 billion to VND2 trillion. Meanwhile, AIA Viet Nam said one of its important tasks is to increase the chartered capital by US$30 million in 2013 to reach US$100 million./.

By Hai Minh