Vietnam’s insurance industry saw its premiums grow 17% year-on-year for the first quarter of 2017, according to the country’s General Statistics Office.

Life insurance premiums increased by 23%, while those of general insurance grew by 9%, Viet Nam News reported, adding that the Ministry of Finance’s Insurance Supervisory Authority (ISA), is targeting a premium growth rate of 20% for the industry in 2019.

Analysts remain positive about the industry’s prospects in the next few years, predicting an annual growth rate of 10% to 20%. Many banks that have partnered with insurers to provide bancassurance products expect a higher annual growth rate of up to 30% or 40%.

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Vietnam’s fast-growing domestic insurance market is expected to grow further, due to rising living standards and rapidly gross domestic product (GDP) growth of more than 6% annually over the next three years, the report said.

To maintain Vietnam’s high insurance premium growth rate, Deputy Finance Minister Huỳnh Quang Hải tasked the Insurance Association of Vietnam (IAV) to cooperate with other relevant agencies and raise awareness about insurance.

The IAV should foster closer cooperation among insurers so that businesses can contribute to building and fine-tuning the industry’s databases, said Hải. This will improve the quality of insurers’ services, which, in turn, will raise their financial capability and competitiveness.