Vietnamese market to grow 44%

The premium income of the Vietnamese insurance market, the fastest growing market in Asia, fell by 5% in 1999. This was due to a number of factors, including the country’s economic problems in the wake of the regional financial crisis, a ban on insurance policies denominated in foreign currencies and the introduction of a value added tax on premium payments. Natural disasters also added to the insurance industry’s problems with the worst ever floods in Vietnam’s central region which caused economic damage (largely uninsured) of Dong4,100bn (US$287mn).