For the long-established insurer Bao Viet Life, its ultimate mission as well as its core business is to provide protection for its customers. Based on its strength in this business sphere, the company has for decades pursued its sustainability strategy with a special focus on human-centric corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, in particular on education support for children and healthcare for underprivileged people.
Bao Viet Life, established in 1996 as the first life insurer in the country, has now vigorously expanded its network to include close to 80 subsidiaries, 388 regional offices, 17 general agent offices, and some 230,000 counselors working across the country’s 63 centrally-run cities and provinces. Owing to this far-reaching network, the company has managed to respond quickly to various life insurance demands of its customers on one hand, and render effective support to the community on the other hand, thus contributing greatly to the country’s efforts to expand the social safety net.
Support for outstanding students
In late August 2023, the life insurer donated 100 bicycles to hard-working students from difficult family backgrounds in the central province of Quang Tri, encouraging them to go through difficulties to continue schooling. The 100 bicycles given to Quang Tri students are part of the 5,000 bicycles that Bao Viet Life donated to students nationwide under the “Dream Bicycle” Fund last year.
Apart from bicycles, Bao Viet Life has also awarded thousands of scholarships to outstanding students in the country.
For example, the company late last year offered nearly 1,000 scholarships to outstanding students who had won provincial or national awards for their schooling achievements, including 700 scholarships in the fourth quarter of 2023 alone.
Ngo Trung Dung, deputy general secretary of the Vietnam Insurance Association, commented at a scholarship award ceremony organized by Bao Viet Life late last year that such strong support by the life insurer “has brought happiness and encouraged the learning spirit among students.
“I highly appreciate programs benefiting the community and the young generation by Bao Viet.”
The life insurer has for nearly 10 years on end donated scholarships to students at the National Economics University in Hanoi under an agreement signed with this school, with the total value exceeding VND7 billion. In all, over the past 18 years, the company has awarded over 33,000 scholarships to students nationwide, reflecting its strong commitment to supporting education.
Healthcare for the underprivileged
Promoting healthcare for people, especially the underprivileged, is also a strong CSR program at the company.
Under its “For A Beautiful Vietnam”, Bao Viet Life in the fourth quarter last year joined forces with healthcare experts and doctors to provide free medical advice and examination to over 5,000 students and parents.
Commenting on this program, Ngo Chi Hieu, head of the Cardiology Department at Hanoi French Hospital, stated, “I appreciate Bao Viet Life’s unwavering efforts over the years to protect and care for people’s health. My colleagues and I thank Bao Viet Life for giving doctors and nurses the opportunity to share their medical knowledge with people, helping them understand how to prevent dangerous diseases.”
There are also other healthcare programs conducted annually by Bao Viet Life to benefit the poor, such as the “Green Journey – Golden Heart” program, which has reached out to numerous cities and provinces across the country. In April 2022, for example, this program was organized in Nghi Xuan and Ky Anh districts of Ha Tinh Province, in collaboration with doctors from several centrally-run hospitals. In the districts, the program provided free health checks for 800 poor people, and donated 100 sets of gifts to people in need there.
In this same year, the firm donated VND500 million to the Fund for the Poor, and expended VND21 billion on social programs to benefit poor and underprivileged people nationwide. These funds were distributed for building or renovating schools and medical facilities in several localities, and repairing or building houses for policy families.
Since 2020 to date, Bao Viet Life has set aside VND116 billion for social programs, focusing on educational support, upgrade of medical facilities, and relief aid for people in localities affected by natural calamities among others.
With its orientation to contribute to social well-being, Bao Viet Life has initiated a micro insurance product to widen the safety net for poor people.
The insurance product, which was launched in 2023, is aimed at making access to insurance easier for the poor, with an annual premium starting at only VND44,000. This product is designed for all people, from babies who are 15 days old to people aged 70, and Bao Viet Life is the first life insurance firm in the country to launch such a product.
Tran Thi Ly, a policy holder in Quang Nam Province who bought this insurance product at VND80,000 last August, was happy when receiving a payout of VND5 million from Bao Viet Life when breaking her wrist in an accident. “It was quite affordable. I was among the first in Quang Nam to buy this micro insurance product, and the payout helped relieve my family of the financial burden due to the accident,” she said.
A representative of Bao Viet Life explained the reason behind the company’s new product, “Risks are always there, affecting one’s livelihood and production. Poor people are disadvantaged ones and are more vulnerable to risks, but they cannot afford normal commercial insurance products.” The micro insurance product, therefore, gives policy-holders peace of mind as it provides benefits worth up to VND78 million to cover medical treatment and compensation for lost incomes, among others.
After more than one year launching this new insurance product, Bao Viet Life has also donated tens of thousands of gifts being the insurance policy itself to poor people, further expanding the social safety net in the country.
