Our past successes have been as much a result of foresight in pursuing new opportunities as a firm resolve in confronting new challenges. Even as insurance markets continue to mature in Asia, forces of change are already underway that will transform the landscape in which insurers operate and drive the development of new business models and delivery channels. In the coming decade, insurance business in Asia will be profoundly shaped by social and economic transitions. I will briefly touch on five areas: (i) demographic shifts, (ii) increasing affluence, (iii) greater connectivity from new technologies, (iv) more intense competition and (v) a renewed focus on financial inclusion. Firstly, while countries in Asia are at different stages of demographic transitions, what is unique to Asia is the speed at which populations are ageing. For example, the US took 72 years for the population over age 65 to double from 7% to 14%. Most countries in Southeast Asia are expected take 20 to 25 years, while Korea and Singapore are expected to take less than 20 years 5 Asia will have a much shorter timeframe to ensure an adequate social safety net is in place to support an aged society. Greater reliance will therefore be placed on the insurance sector to keep pace with the growing demand for old age protection and healthcare funding. Secondly, increasing affluence and a growing middle-income population will be a key driver of demand both in terms of quantity as well as quality.
Global Money Week takes place on the 10–17 March and is a worldwide celebration through events and activities to help empower children and youth to be confident and responsible economic citizens. During this week, children are encouraged to engage in learning on how money works, including saving, creating livelihoods, gaining employment and entrepreneurship as well as living financially smart lives. And so for Samoa’s contribution to the event, the Central Bank decided to conduct a financial literacy poster competition to encourage kids to use their imaginations and knowledge about money choices, and help provide a creative outlet to demonstrate their knowledge. For this year’s poster competition theme “I can grow my money by...” myself and Mrs Vicseta Meredith of Business System Limited had the pleasure AND the hard task of judging the entries. We were very impressed with the quality of entries that were presented to us – so it pains us that there are only a limited number of awards we can give out for the competition. “Financial literacy” or “the set of skills and knowledge that allows an individual to make informed and effective decisions with all of their financial resources” is an important life-skill in our diverse capacities as students, employees, consumers, savers and investors etc. In short, it is important for all responsible economic citizens to have. – So why not start now and start young? Start young on financial fitness...it will be fun and worth it!