Vietnam’s largest non-life insurer is moving to write reinsurance business across multiple emerging markets, adding capacity to regions where infrastructure investment is creating demand for complex risk cover.
PVI Insurance Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding with Thailand’s KASIKORNBANK (KBank) on October 20, aimed at exploring customer referrals and financial and insurance solutions. The signing took place during PVI Insurance’s nine-month business review conference in Bangkok.
The company also held discussions with Muang Thai Insurance (MTI), one of Thailand’s largest non-life insurers, covering operational expertise and potential cooperation. Somporn Suebthawilkul, chairman of the Thai General Insurance Association, attended the conference.
The Bangkok meetings form one part of a wider strategy. PVI Insurance is pursuing reinsurance opportunities in Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and the Middle East, seeking to diversify revenue and participate in larger programmes involving industrial and energy risks.
The push comes amid abundant reinsurance capacity across the region. An AM Best market segment report from August 2026 found that Asia-Pacific reinsurers recorded a 4% rise in net insurance service revenue in 2025, with overseas business the main earnings driver. The report noted that 2026 renewal conditions in Asia favoured buyers, with rates easing and capacity plentiful.
Average commercial insurance rates in Asia fell 5% in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to Marsh’s Global Insurance Market Index, with declines extending across property, casualty, and specialty lines.
Read more: Commercial insurance pricing in Asia continues downward trajectory
For brokers, PVI Insurance’s entry into cross-border reinsurance means another potential capacity provider in markets that are already well supplied. Its A- (Excellent) AM Best financial strength rating, held continuously since 2023, positions the company to participate in programmes where counterparty financial standing is a factor in panel selection.
PVI Insurance said its third-quarter discussions with insurers, reinsurers, and brokers in Central Asia and the South Caucasus covered participation in existing reinsurance programmes and opportunities linked to new investment projects.
The insurance markets PVI is targeting are among the fastest-growing globally, though they remain underpenetrated. Uzbekistan’s insurance penetration stands at roughly 0.7% of GDP, according to Oybek Khalilov, chairman of the Insurance Association of Uzbekistan, who spoke at the Silk Road Insurance Forum in March 2026. Khalilov described Uzbekistan’s market as entering a “renaissance phase,” with premiums growing 37.8% in 2025, according to data from the country’s National Agency for Advanced Projects reported by UzDaily.
Kazakhstan’s insurance premiums reached US$3.4 billion in 2025, up 12.5% year-on-year, according to data from the country’s Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market reported by The Astana Times. In Azerbaijan, premiums reached US$884 million, up 11%, according to figures cited by Elmar Mirsalayev, executive director of the Azerbaijan Insurers Association, at the same forum.
The pipeline of insurable projects underpinning this growth is substantial. A European Commission study published in February 2026 found that trade on the Trans-Caspian route had quadrupled since 2022 and could triple again by 2030 with the right investment. Transport, energy, and digital infrastructure were identified as priorities.
A Boston Consulting Group report from September 2025 estimated that the four core Central Asian and Caspian economies generate US$440 billion in annual economic activity, with Gulf states making multi-billion-dollar investments in the region’s energy and infrastructure sectors.
For intermediaries, the expansion of insurable assets creates placement opportunities in construction and installation risks, industrial property, and business interruption cover.
Read more: Construction divide: China and India flush with capacity, Japan tightens
PVI Insurance is also exploring cooperation with local insurers to provide coverage for Vietnamese businesses investing overseas. Under this model, local partners would contribute market knowledge while PVI Insurance would handle risk management and placement.
The company’s domestic performance supports the strategy. In the first nine months of 2026, total revenue reached nearly VNĐ25.2 trillion (US$969 million), up 16.3% year-on-year. Pre-tax profit rose 22.2% to VNĐ1.4 trillion, reaching 143.7% of its full-year profit target. The company held a 17.4% share of Vietnam’s direct non-life insurance segment.
AM Best maintained a stable outlook on Vietnam’s non-life insurance segment in July 2026, citing strong top-line growth in 2025 that extended into the first half of 2026.
PVI Insurance’s expansion fits a broader pattern of domestic Asian insurers looking beyond home markets for reinsurance revenue. For brokers placing energy, infrastructure, and industrial risks in Central Asia and the Middle East, the practical question is whether PVI’s participation in reinsurance programmes will broaden the pool of available capacity or add another name to already well-supplied panels.
With insurance penetration in key Central Asian markets still below 1%, the growth runway is long. The determining factor will be whether new entrants like PVI Insurance can match their ambitions with the local relationships and regulatory compliance needed to write business in these jurisdictions.
