Myanmar: Govt opens insurance mart to foreign insurers
Source: Asia Insurance Review | May 2019
Five global insurers from Japan, Canada, the UK and the US have been granted provisional licences to operate wholly owned life insurance subsidiaries in Myanmar.
The five are AIA, Chubb, Dai-ichi, ManuLife, and Prudential. They have to fulfil the pre-licensing requirements before they are allowed to operate.
Commenting on his company receiving a licence, Prudential Corporation Asia CEO Nic Nicandrou said in a statement, “The continued expansion and liberalisation of Myanmar’s life insurance sector is expected to bring significant benefits to the country, including job creation, inflow of quality foreign direct investment and the development of long-term capital markets.”
In addition, the Finance Ministry is set to grant licences for foreign insurers to form joint ventures with local insurance companies.
Local insurers in Myanmar consist of state owned Myanma Insurance and 11 privately held companies.
Myanmar has a population of 55m people with more than half the population under the age of 30, and insurance penetration is low. A