Insurance companies should use more electronic transactions and take advantage of high-tech produts to better compete in the market, a government official said on Thursday in HCM City

Speaking at the Viet Nam Insurance Summit, Dr Nguyen Viet Hung, deputy head of the Department of Financial Informatics and Statistics under the Ministry of Finance, said that more IT products should be created by insurance companies to meet customer demand.

The Government has been working on legal regulations on electronic transactions and applied technologies in the Industry 4.0 era. Current legal regulations recognise electronic invoices, and a digital financial-service ecosystem is being set up, he said.

Deputy Minister of Finance Huynh Quang Hai said the ministry should use IT in managing and monitoring the market professionally and effectively. Developing a safe, effective and sustainable insurance market will help raise long-term capital for the economy and protect financial risks for investors, he said.

Tina Nguyen, CEO of Generali Viet Nam, said that insurance firms should increase investment in high-tech applications to reduce risks.

“Compared to the past, more and more young people under 30 years old buy insurance and they like technology,” Tina said.

Nguyen Xuan Viet, chairman of Viet Nam Insurance Association and general director of Bao Viet Insurance Corporation, said that many insurance firms, especially foreign ones, had been applying technology for a long time.

"Young customers like a fast process when they buy insurance,” Viet said, adding that insurance firms should change the method of operation and create more products to attract young customers.

Le Van Thanh, CEO of Bao Minh Insurance, said: “Technologies help us develop distribution channels, and manage and serve customers better.”

Viet said that agencies should connect data with the insurance association so that analyses can be made for more effective development.

Viet Nam’s insurance industry aims to have annual growth rate of 20 per cent by next year and 15 per cent annually in the next five years.

Ngo Viet Trung, the finance authority’s deputy head, said that by next year 11 per cent of the country’s population will have life insurance. The rate will increase to 15 per cent in the next five years.

According to data from the Viet Nam Insurance Association, 8 per cent of Viet Nam’s population has life insurance.

The country has 64 insurance companies, including 30 non-life insurers, 18 life insurers, two reinsurance companies and 14 insurance brokerage companies.

As of September, the total assets of the insurance market had reached VND441 trillion (US$19 million), an increase of 19 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Total insurance revenues have been VND112 trillion, increasing by 20 per cent against the same period last year. In that time, insurance firms paid out VND28 trillion, an increase of 12 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The summit was held by the Viet Nam Insurance Association and IEC Group. VNS