“There is no question that global trends will sooner rather than later also have radical implications for insurance in the region and by adopting international best practices the region can leapfrog and greatly accelerate progress in the industry,” Geoff Riddell, Member of the Group Executive Committee Chairman APMEA, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd in his keynote address said.
“Greater cooperation between regulators to foster the development of a regional industry would allow small-scale local players to use commonalities of language and culture to build scale and compete directly with international businesses,” Riddell said.
“Local corporations are going to increasingly look to internationalize their businesses, at which stage they will need (insurance) providers that can meet their needs internationally and therefore insurers in this region need to ensure that they have the necessary skills and market access to compete internationally for corporate and mid-tier commercial lines of business,” he added.
“This means local insurers have a strong interest in encouraging the development of a regulatory environment that is consistent with international rules and perhaps counter-intuitively, that allows international firms – and by association, international talent and technologies – to access the local market”, Mr. Riddell said.