Positive effects from global internship of Dongbu Insurance

Positive effects from global internship of Dongbu Insurance. July. 31, 2015 07:14. minwoo@donga.com.

Dongbu Insurance Co., Ltd. is achieving positive results from its global internship that it has introduced this year. While expanding operations in Southeast Asian region, the Korean insurer became the first company to start global internship among the domestic competitors. Dongbu Insurance has selected three interns for the first batch of the internship program in January and hired five more interns for the second batch in June, with an aim to hire global talents to help the insurer advance into markets in Southeast Asia.

Five interns from five nations in Asia, such as Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Cambodia Myanmar, came through a competition of 10 to 1 to join the company as global intern. All of them are international students studying in Korea. They have completed a six week-long internship program on July 24.

During the internship period, new interns surveyed characteristics of their own nation’s insurance market and proposed a strategy to advance into the local insurance market. “In Indonesia, 80 percent of the total population is Muslim. Islamic sharia bans investment to uncertainties, gambling and receipt of interests. Any foreign insurance company that wants to start operation in Indonesia must understand characteristics of the Islamic finance,” said Ajang. Chanpirum from Cambodia said. “More than 70 percent of the population is involved in farming. As they lack understanding or knowledge on insurance, basic education and publicity must go hand in hand. There will be great demand for insurance products that cover damages of crops and livestock by natural disasters.”

During the internship, these interns took part in actual jobs and proved their competency. Dongbu Insurance has acquired a Vietnamese insurance company PTI in January for the first time in the industry. Recently, Vietnam`s Minister of Information and communication Nguyen Bac Son visited Dongbu Insurance during his official trip to Korea, Tran served as a translator for the minister.

“The global internship program helps the company to hire global talents who can understand Korean insurance industry, the organizational culture and local operation environment. In the future, Dongbu Insurance plans to expand the internship program and let global interns have various experiences, such as, not only the tasks to support overseas operation but also the practical insurance tasks for indemnification,” said Choi Byeong-seo, a manager of the New Growth Part in Dongbu Insurance.

Faced with challenges in Korea, including saturation of the local insurance market, ultra-low interest rates and decreasing population, Dongbu Insurance now expedite efforts to advance into markets in China and Southeast Asia as the second main market. Dongbu Insurance plans to expand operations in Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.