The Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF) has begun a contract with the Vietnam Ministry of Finance to set up a technical education and training centre for the country’s insurance industry. ANZIIF won the contract after being selected for a five-way tender that included counterparts in the US and the UK.

The Vietnam Insurance Institute (VII) will offer technical education and training to help insurance workers gain internationally recognised qualifications.

Vietnam opened its insurance market to limited competition in 1993 and joined the World Trade Organisation last November. ANZIIF is now working with the Ministry of Finance to design the business model and organisational structure for the new educational centre.

ANZIIF CEO Joan Fitzpatrick says professional bodies like the VII must be self-sustaining in the long term. “Improving professional competency is ‘top of mind’ in all Asian insurance markets, not just Vietnam,” she said. “Industry-backed training bodies are run on a not-for-profit basis, but making a profit is the only truly sustainable way of remaining relevant and delivering real value.”

Much of the contract involves ANZIIF in developing the centre’s curriculum and program content, and training more than 120 Vietnamese insurance professionals and academics to deliver the programs. The first round of training began early in March.