The changing middle class and effects of climate change are forcing the insurance industry into a constant state of transformation, said NEC Asia Pacific's Value Chain innovation Lab senior director of digital finance Kunihiko Amako in an interview with Asia Insurance Review.
Speakers at the opening session of the 18th India Rendezvous in Mumbai yesterday highlighted the huge potential in the Indian insurance market, as it embarks on the journey of becoming a developed nation by 2047.
China's medical insurance fund achieved a balanced budget in 2024. In fact, it also achieved slight surplus, which will ensure the safety and sustainability of the fund.
The Bangladesh government is planning a hold-all insurance coverage of all the citizens and resources of the country for giving a fillip to the country's socioeconomic development.
Taiwan's labour insurance fund, which is an important source of funding for the country's main basic pension programme, has good short-term prospects due to recent premium and investment gains, however, the future of the programme remains challenging.
Global insured losses due to Nat CAT is on the rise, according to Munich Re's NatCatSERVICE January 2025 report, "Natural disasters in 2024". The report showed that, adjusted for inflation, insured losses have climbed from $106bn in 2023 to $140bn in 2024.
In his welcome address at the 2nd IFSCA-IRDAI GIFT IFSC Global Reinsurance Summit, International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) executive director Praveen Trivedi, said that setting up businesses in India has been gaining notable traction in the past period thanks to the regulatory effort which focused more on enhancing ease of doing business. Mr Trivedi said that it is a positive sign that the 2nd edition of the Summit is attracting guests from all around the world representing various insurance, reinsurance and insurance-related entities as well as regulators and other industry professionals.
Japanese trading firm Itochu is set to purchase a 20% stake in Thailand's non-life insurer Thaivivat Insurance. According to a release by Itochu, it will invest around THB1bn ($29m) to buy new shares issued by the Thai company.
Nepalese prime minister KP Sharma Oli has asked the ministry of health and population to formulate on priority an action plan for reforms based on the report of the Health Insurance Reform Suggestion Task Force.
The Asian Development Bank has come out with a report on Cambodia's disaster risk financing that also highlights the nation's vulnerabilities to natural disasters and the urgent need for robust financial mechanisms.