Fresh media reports out of the UAE this week indicate that the region's burgeoning medical tourism market may be curtailed by ongoing healthcare capacity problems, regulatory issues and other market forces. The United Arab Emirates is the largest medical tourism market in the Middle East, drawing an estimated 4.3 million people to the country each year for healthcare and wellness services. An article…

Prominent international expatriate medical insurance company, William Russell, announced this past week that they are finally bringing their award-winning global health, life and income protection plans to businesses in Abu Dhabi through a new partnership with a local firm. William Russell's global health insurance plans are designed to provide expatriate staff with access to the high-quality private…

MetLife Inc, America's largest life insurance group, reported a surge in fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday, mainly attributable to the continued development of its international insurance operations and pronounced derivative gains. In a company filing, Metlife reported fourth quarter 2011 net income of US$1.1 billion, or US$1.06 per share, and operating earnings of US$1.4 billion, or US$1.31 per share,…

There may be boom times ahead for the UAE travel insurance market, as both inbound and outbound tourism numbers begin to rebound after a difficult couple of years. One of the Gulf state's largest insurance companies has predicted travel insurance sales could now grow by 40 percent in 2012 alone. Speaking at the Dubai Economic Outlook 2012 presentation on Wednesday, Sheikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum…

The Philippines is fast becoming one of Asia's most promising young insurance markets, with newly released industry statistics projecting yet another year of double digit premium growth in the country's life sector. Gregorio Mercado, President of the Philippine Life Insurance Association (PLIA), announced in a press briefing on Tuesday that unaudited premium income for the country's life insurance…

Singapore's life insurance industry has been able to weather volatile global capital markets to great affect this past year, with new business premiums crossing the S$2 billion threshold for the first time in 2011 according to a new report. In their year-end dataset released this week, the Life Insurance Association of Singapore (LIA) revealed that the…

The push to turn South Korea into Asia's premier medical tourism hub is beginning to deliver sizeable returns, as more foreign travelers visit the country to get high-quality medical treatment and plastic surgery. New statistics released by the Bank of Korea reveal that inbound medical tourism revenue exceeded outbound healthcare expenditure for the first time ever last year. According to a Bank of…

A new study released this month by Canadian insurance giant Manulife reveals that too many of Hong Kong citizens are not doing enough to adequately prepare for their retirement. Although the city-state's compulsory pension system, the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) Scheme, has now been in place for over a decade, eight out of ten Hong Kong workers remain unsure as to whether they have in fact saved…

China's fast-growing insurance sector could be subject to further regulatory reforms this quarter, after the nation's industry regulator unveiled a raft of new initiatives on their website. The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) released a statement this week outlining several new restrictions on property investments for domestic insurance groups. Under the proposed regulatory requirements,…

Vietnam's Ministry of Finance has announced that they will begin to restructure the country's insurance sector this year. The move comes as part of the Vietnamese government's 2012-2015 economic plan, which intends to revamp the Southeast Asian country's credit institutions and securities sector in order to further develop the domestic capital market and open up to greater foreign investment.