Asia: Six regulators declare commitment to inclusive insurance

Source: eDaily | 28 May 2013

Representatives of six Asian insurance regulatory authorities have adopted a pioneering declaration that recognises the challenges to providing risk protection to low-income individuals and enjoins the signatories to promote inclusive insurance in their respective countries.

The Cebu Declaration on Inclusive Insurance was signed by insurance regulators and supervisors from Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam on 16 May at the recently concluded Mutual Exchange Forum on Inclusive Insurance (MEFIN), hosted by the Philippine Insurance Commission and organised by the Regulatory Framework Promotion of Pro-poor Insurance Markets (GIZ RFPI Asia) in Cebu, Philippines with support from the Asian Development Bank.

A non-binding manuscript, the Cebu Declaration on Inclusive Insurance recognises the importance of inclusive insurance as a tool for poverty reduction and social and economic development, and underlines the instrumentality of insurance industry supervision in fostering inclusive insurance markets.

Philippine Insurance Commissioner Mr Emmanuel Dooc said "the Declaration emphasises the need to develop an effective policy, regulatory and supervisory environment". He added that "while the Philippines has received praise for its regulatory environment for microinsurance, the work ahead is daunting. This Declaration is a display of the Philippine Insurance Commission's commitment to promoting pro-poor risk protection."

Signatories jointly declare that the exchange of knowledge and ideas is essential for the formulation of an enabling policy, regulatory and supervisory framework, taking into consideration the unique legal and regulatory environment of countries.

GIZ RFPI Program Director Dr Antonis Malagardis stated that "the aim of a platform such as MEFIN is to provide space for insurance regulators and supervisors in Asia to share their unique experiences in promoting inclusive insurance markets and to learn from each other."  He added that "thematic approaches such as for agro-insurance, health, pensions and disaster risk management shall feature in the cooperation that GIZ RFPI Asia and the Declaration envision to facilitate for the public and the private sectors."

MEFIN was designed to foster peer-to-peer exchange of insurance regulatory and supervisory experiences and lessons and to plot concrete actions plan for which technical co-operation could be formed. GIZ RFPI Asia is a regional programme that seeks to improve regulatory and supervisory preconditions for effective insurance protection of low-income populations in Asia.


Funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the programme will support selected Asian countries to enhance insurance regulatory and supervisory capacities. Additionally, RFPI Asia will facilitate the development of innovative insurance solutions, especially in the areas of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), disaster risk management and agriculture. RFPI Asia is being implemented in close collaboration with the ADB.