Manulife expands to Myanmar

This marks its 13th market in Asia.

Manulife is expanding to Myanmar, its 13th market in Asia, after being selected as a ‘preferred applicant’ by the Ministry of Planning and Finance to set up a wholly foreign-owned life insurance operation.

“As one of the fastest growing economies in ASEAN, coupled with a nascent life insurance industry, Myanmar is a key part of our overall Asia growth strategy,” Anil Wadhwani, Manulife Asia President and CEO said in a statement.

Manulife started operations in Myanmar in 1903. The insurer then re-entered the market through a representative office in 2014.

Manulife pledges to commit to enhance communities financial and insurance as it mulls the possibility of sponsoring local Myanmar students for higher studies in Canada, especially in the areas of actuarial science, mathematics and statistics.