In 2004, the government of the Philippines introduced a medical tourism initiative - the Philippine Medical Tourism Program (PMTP) - to promote the country's private healthcare services to the worldwide market. At that time, the likes of Thailand, Malaysia, India and Singapore had already established themselves as Asian medical tourism destinations. Since then the medical tourism industry in the Philippines…

Aon Benfield, the US-based reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor, asserts that whilst the United States will continue being hit by "Supercat" events - catastrophic events that cause a minimum of US$10 billion (EUR 7.2 billion) damage in insured losses, - insurers should heed its warning that Asian countries may experience such events in the foreseeable future.

Despite Thailand's recently social turmoil, political uncertainty and world financial crises, the Thai domestic insurance market is targeting an overall increase of 6% in insurance premiums by 2014. The growth in the general Thai insurance market is driven by a combination of factors derived from the improving prosperity of the population, which translates into increased demand for protection of…

In order to ensure that hospitals comply with the accreditation requirements to be eligible as suitable facilities, set under the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) system, the Health Minister of South Africa, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, is said to have plans to institute a regulatory body that will ensure such compliance.

Resolution Ltd is set to acquire Bupa's Health Assurance business in a £102 million (US$164 million:122 million Euros) deal. As part of Resolution Ltd's strategy to build a substantial share of the UK life insurance market, the company has reached an agreement with Bupa to acquire its life, income and critical illness insurance business. This enhances the previous acquisitions by the Clive Cowdrey…

Bupa International, a leading international insurance provider from the United Kingdom, has recently published the results of a survey the company conducted to determine the level of satisfaction with the healthcare provided to expatriates living abroad. The survey revealed that from the more than one thousand expatriates participating in the survey, a surprising 20 percent felt that their health deteriorated after having moved overseas.

Aetna, one of the leading global healthcare benefits companies, has announced the appointments of Hocking Cheng and Derek Goldberg as Managing Director of Greater China and Managing Director of South-east Asia, respectively. In these new positions, Mr. Cheng and Mr. Goldberg will oversee the development and execution of growth strategies aimed at further expanding the international business of the company in the Asia Pacific Region.

Zurich Insurance Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Zurich Financial Services AG, the Swiss insurer, has announced the acquisition of Compagnie Libanaise D'Assurances (CLA), a privately-owned Lebanese insurance company founded in 1951 that has branches in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman.

A research report entitled "Vietnam Insurance Sector Forecast to 2013" by RNCOS, an India-based market research and information analysis company, predicts that the growth in the insurance market in Vietnam will continue being dominated by the non-life insurance segment, which currently accounts for more than 50 percent of the insurance market. The report projects a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of around 25 percent between the years 2010 and 2013.

ACE Group, the global group of insurance and reinsurance companies based in Switzerland and listed in the New York Stock Exchange, has announced the singing of an agreement which will see the group acquire a 100 percent stake in Jemeh Insurance, the general insurance company majority-owned by Jemah Asia in Malaysia, for an estimated US$200 million (EUR 143 million).