VietNamNet Bridge - Investors from South Korea are pouring more money in finance & banking, securities and insurance, all of which which can bring high added value.

KIS Vietnam, the South Korean invested securities company, has decided to open a new transaction office in district 10, the second one of the company in the city.

Earlier this year, KIS Vietnam increased its chartered capital by four times from VND264 billion to VND1.112 trillion, as part of its ambitious plan to list itself among the top 10 securities companies in Vietnam by 2016.

Shinhan Investment, another financial institution from South Korea, a subsidiary of Shinhan Financial Group, has decided to take over Nam An Securities Company.

In June 2015, Shinhan Life Insurance opened a representative office in Vietnam to learn about the Vietnam market.

Meanwhile, Shinhan Bank Vietnam, which has been present in Vietnam for many years, has opened its 13th branch in Thai Nguyen City and plans to open the 14th in Hanoi in August.

Shinhan Bank’s move was reportedly made to increase its strength against HSBC (the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) which has 16 branches in Vietnam.

A branding expert commented that South Korean companies appear to have changed their thoughts about the potential they can exploit in Vietnam. 

After a long period of injecting money into the manufacturing sector, South Koreans are now targeting the service sector which can bring higher added value, especially finance services.

Samsung Life, an insurer, has recently sent word intimating that it wants to invest in the life insurance market.

At a recent meeting with the Ministry of Finance, the insurer suggested cooperating with Bao Viet Group to do business in Vietnam.

The news immediately helped push up Bao Viet share price to VND60,000 per share, a 3-year record high.

Sources said that in case the cooperation deal fails, Samsung Life would set up a 100 percent foreign-owned insurance company in Vietnam. 

Samsung Life in Vietnam would create more competition in the insurance market, which includes big names like Prudential, Bao Viet, PVI, Manulife and Cathay Life.

In the first South Korean investment wave, kicked off in the 1990s, when Vietnam began openings its market to foreign investors, investors mostly targeted projects in labor-intensive industries such as garments, footwear and electronics assembling. 

In 2009, the second investment wave began when Samsung decided to set up Samsung Electronics manufacturing complex in Bac Ninh.

A KITA survey shows that 49 percent of 540 South Korean polled businesses which have growth rates of over 3 percent in the last three years said they planned to expand business in Vietnam this year.

NCDT