Fubon Life Insurance Co (富邦人壽), a subsidiary of Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), said on Thursday its fully owned unit in Vietnam is scheduled to become operational in the first quarter of next year.
The life insurer said its Vietnam unit — Fubon Life Insurance (Vietnam) — had secured a license from the financial authorities in the country to operate there.
The Vietnam unit will set up a subsidiary in Hanoi and a branch in Ho Chi Minh City, both of which will open in the first quarter of next year, Fubon Life said.
Before Fubon Life set up its official operations in Vietnam, Fubon Financial had established footholds to develop its banking and non-life insurance businesses in the Southeast Asian country.
Richard Tsai (蔡明興), vice chairman of Fubon Financial and chairman of Fubon Life, said Fubon Financial will be able to provide a wide range of services in the banking, life insurance and non-life insurance sectors of the Vietnamese market.
According to Fubon Financial, the premium income of the life insurance sector in Vietnam in the first nine months of this year rose 25.1 percent from a year earlier to about US$490 million.
Fubon Life vice chairman Kenneth Shih (石寶忠) said after the opening of the Vietnam unit, the life insurer will become a regional insurance business operator.
Shih said his company will take advantage of its experience in the Taiwanese market to penetrate the Vietnamese market, with the aim of boosting its visibility and building a successful brand in the country.
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