Giant Chinese Insurance Group Enters Vietnam
Ping’ An Insurance Company, China’s second largest insurance group, has announced it would open a representative office in Vietnam on March 16.
The rep. office, to be located in the Hanoi Tower building at 49 Hai Ba Trung Street, Hanoi, will pave the way for the Chinese insurer to conduct market research in both life and non-life insurance sectors and make investments in Vietnam.
Ping’ An’s total assets rose to around US$30 billion at the end of 2004 with total revenues of US$8 billion.
Currently, Vietnam has 18 insurance companies, one re-insurance company and five insurance brokerages. They offer around 500 insurance products. There are also around 30 representative offices of foreign insurers in the local market.
Total insurance premiums in Vietnam rose 25 per cent in 2004 totaling VND14.232 trillion (US$906.5 million), accounting for nearly 2 per cent of GDP.
Vietnam’s economy expanded by around 7 per cent annually over the past years with gross national income (GNI) reached US$44.5 billion in equivalent in 2004. The country has a population of 82 million, of which 60 per cent is below 30 years old.
(Investment Mar 14 p7)
Vietnamese
