Media release

Australian Minister for Trade, Mark Vaile

September 11 1999

Minister salutes QBE Insurance breakthrough in Vietnam

Trade Minister, Mark Vaile, today congratulated QBE Insurance on the opening of its insurance joint venture in Vietnam (Hanoi Sept 11) - the first licensed operation involving an Australian company.

"The official launch of QBE's insurance business in Vietnam is very significant in terms of Australian investment in Vietnam and is a sign of Vietnam's further opening up of its markets to world-class providers of financial services," Mr Vaile said.

"The venture is the culmination of a number of years of patience and persistence by QBE, supported by strategic lobbying of the Vietnamese authorities at many different levels by Australia, particularly Austrade and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade."

While the $6.1 million capital for the joint venture may appear small, the fledgling non-life insurance sector in Vietnam, currently worth around $150 million, has been expanding rapidly - around 40 per cent a year since 1994, and is expected to hold further potential as the sector matures further.

"I'm pleased the Government's strong support of Australian insurance company bids for licences in Vietnam appears to have paid off. My predecessor Tim Fischer had pushed this issue hard on a number of occasions, including during the high-level Australia-Vietnam Joint Trade and Economic Cooperation Committee talks in February 1999, and again during the visit to Australia of Vietnam's Prime Minister in April 1999.

"The Australian government now hopes that other Australian insurance firms that are bidding for Vietnam insurance licences - mainly in the life-insurance sector - will receive favourable consideration in future."