Foreign insurers are developing life insurance

Foreign insurers are experiencing significant growth on the Vietnamese life market. This growth is accounted for by the poor penetration rate of insurance in Vietnam and by the large population (86 million inhabitants). Ace Life Vietnam has posted a premium growth rate of 150% in the course of the first quarter of 2009. Likewise for the other players such as Dai-Ichi Vietnam and Korea Life. The country currently has 11 life insurers including Bao-Viet which controls 32% of the market shares. Life insurance companies are mostly owned by foreign capitals. The minimum capital required to establish a life insurance company is 32.5 million USD, which stands as an impediment for local investors. Bao-Viet is a company with Vietnamese capitals.