SEOUL -- Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance, a major non-life insurer based in Seoul, will acquire a 25 percent stake in Vietinbank Insurance Joint Stock Corporation, saying the acquisition is to build a base in Vietnam's insurance market with high growth potential.
Hyundai Marine said in a regulatory filing that financial terms and other details would be disclosed when the contract is concluded. The planned acquisition of Vietinbank Insurance, a subsidiary of Vietinbank, a state-owned bank, reflects an aggressive investment by South Korean companies in the Southeast Asian country.
Vietnam wants South Korea's active participation in the privatization of state-run firms and financial restructuring. President Moon Jae-in has picked Vietnam as South Korea's crucial trading partner. In a survey this month, the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) found that Vietnam accounted for 17.7 percent of direct overseas investment by South Korean firms in 2017.