Total insurance premiums are estimated to have reached 30.69 trillionVND (1.57 billion USD) this year, a rise of 20.3 percent on last year,according to the Ministry of Finance's Insurance Management andSupervision Department.

The department reported non-lifeinsurance premiums contributed roughly 17 trillion VND (871.8 millionUSD), up 24 percent on last year.

Life insurance premiums rose 16 percent to 13.69 trillion VND (702 million USD).

This year also saw insurers pay out more than 12 trillion VND (615.4 million USD) in claims to institutions and individuals.

Director of the Department Trinh Thanh Hoan said next year they willstreamline the existing regulations to further develop the insurancemarket and encourage institutions and individuals to take out insurance.

Insurers will be encouraged to provide insurance to theagriculture, forestry and fishery sectors and in remote areas, Hoanadded.

He said the department also plans to submitproposals to the Ministry of Finance for licensing the establishment of3-4 insurers and insurance brokers next year.

According tothe department's statistics, the country has 53 insurers, including 29non-life insurers. There are also 12 life insurance and 11 insurancebrokers. The country has only one re-insurance firm.

Thedepartment forecast the total insurance premium will reach 35.29trillion VND (1.8 billion USD) next year, up 18.8 percent year-on-year.Non-life insurance will see big rises of roughly 22-25 percent to 20trillion VND (1.03 billion USD) while life insurance rise will be12-15 percent.

General Secretary of the Vietnam InsuranceAssociation Phung Dac Loc also believed the insurance market willexperience strong growth next year as the Government has targeted a GDPgrowth rate of 7 percent.

"Strong economic growth, which helps lift worker incomes, will lead to further development of the insurance market," he said.

Loc anticipated the life insurance market will grow roughly 18 percent next year with mixed insurance as the key product.

He said there are still plenty of domestic opportunities for insurancecompanies to expand, with just 5 percent of the total population holdinglife insurance. Loc estimated that roughly 30 percent of the country'spopulation can afford to take out insurance policies.

TheBusiness Monitor International also reported this year that Vietnam's insurance market was likely to see strong growth with total premiumsof up to 58.45 trillion VND (2.99 billion USD) by 2014. This willinclude non-life premiums of 27 trillion VND (1.38 billion USD)./.