Cambodia: Insurance mart shows sterling Q1 results, buoyed by life
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Jun 2016
The insurance industry in Cambodia reported a 38% increase in gross premium to US$29 million in Q1 2016 over the same period last year, the Insurance Association of Cambodia (IAC) said.
General insurance contributed $20.3 million or 70% of the overall gross premium in the first quarter this year, up 20% over the same quarter last year, while life business contributed $8.7 million, up 123%. The Southeast Asian nation has seven general insurers and four life insurers.
Mr Robert Elliott, IAC’s Vice Chairman for life insurance, told The Phnom Penh Post that the spike in life insurance gross premium could be attributed largely to a successful education campaign implemented jointly by life insurers and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
“A lot of what we’ve been doing is assuring people that we are very committed,” he said. “We’ve been able to demonstrate that the companies that are here are also in other Asian countries and we’ve been working in these other countries for many, many decades.”
He said while total life insurance premiums more than doubled over the past year, the product started from a low base. Life insurance was introduced in Cambodia only in 2012. He said: “We have a long way to go because there are 15 million people here, but only 30,000 individuals are on a life insurance policy.”