South Asian Insurance regulators need to co-operate

For the industry’s growth and to increase penetration, co-operation among the insurance regulators is crucial, as mentioned by the the IRDAI Chairman at the recently held 4th South Asian Regulators’ Meet. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh together account for 23 % of the world’s population but were low in insurance penetration, at less than 4 %, he explained. “There is significant scope for insurance penetration,’’ Vijayan added. Referring to the recent growth in the insurance industry in the country, Vijayan said the total premium of insurance in the country would be over Rs. 6 lakh crore in financial year 2017-18. Insurers are working towards adopting International Financial Reporting Standards by 2021, he said. “Active consultations are underway” for upgradation and updation of accounting practices and systems,” Vijayan added. In his keynote address, VK Sharma, Chairman, Life Insurance Corporation of India, (LIC) said India and South Asia could collaborate a lot in insurance. “We have developed a knowledge base and skills. In India, the asset base of the corporation was at Rs. 28.54 lakh crore as of December 2017 and LIC was betting big on technology, he said. “Today, about 50 per cent of our premium comes from tech-based solutions.”