Asia: AIRDC calls for greater learning among members
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Nov 2015
The 19th Association of Insurers and Reinsurers of Developing Countries (AIRDC) Conference in Seychelles with 200 delegates from 31 countries, with the theme “Long-term Development in Partnership with the Insurance Industry” saw greater calls for co-operation among the developing countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The next AIRDC annual conference will be in Bahrain from 26-29 September 2016 and will be jointly organised by ARIG, Central Bank of Bahrain, Bahrain Insurance Association and AIRDC.
Hon. Barry Faure, Vice-President of the Seychelles, in his opening speech stressed the importance of the co-operation among insurers and reinsurers of developing countries. He stressed the need for and possibility of members learning from each other to develop their respective markets.
Mr Pierre Laporte, CEO of SACOS Group (a former state- owned insurance company, now privatised and listed in the Seychelles Stock Exchange) is the new President of the AIRDC, with Mr Yassir Albaharna of Bahrain as the Vice-President. Ms Ming Jacinto, President of the Insurance Institute of Asia Pacific was confirmed as the Secretary General. She was standing in following the sudden death of past Secretary-General Mrs Evangeline Escobillo.
AIRDC started life in 1977 as Third World Insurance Congress in Manila where its secretariat is still based. For a while between 1995 and 2000, it was the called the Association of Insurers and Regulators of Developing Countries. It then became ICDC, Insurance Co-operation among Developing Countries and finally reverted to AIRDC where the R stood for reinsurers. Since 2013, after a lapse of four years, it has started holding its conferences annually, in Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Seychelles.