Mohd Razif bin Abd Kadir: Unlocking opportunities Opening address by Mr Mohd Razif bin Abd Kadir, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia, at the 10th ASEAN Insurance Regulators Meeting and 33rd ASEAN Insurance Council Meeting, Kuala Lumpur, 15 November 2007. *  *  *  It is my great pleasure to be here today at the 10th ASEAN Insurance Regulators meeting and the 33rd ASEAN Insurance Council Meeting in Kuala Lumpur. Let me first extend a warm welcome and "Selamat Datang" to all the delegates from abroad as well as to fellow Malaysians here today. During this “˜Visit Malaysia Year” which is also the year of Malaysia's 50th Anniversary celebrations of our independence, I do hope that our foreign delegates will make time to enjoy Malaysia's diverse culture and the many unique sights, sounds and flavours. I am indeed honoured to be officiating the opening of the 10th ASEAN Insurance Regulators Meeting and the 33rd ASEAN Insurance Council Meeting. I understand that several fruitful meetings and exchange of ideas have already taken place yesterday, and several meetings have been outlined over the next two days to discuss various matters, revolving around the theme towards moving the ASEAN insurance industry forward. The ASEAN region has recorded significant growth with member countries growing at an average rate of 6% in 2006. ASEAN countries have grown stronger and our trade and cooperation have expanded further.
The changing priorities and lifestyles of this new generation, growing wealth and increasing proportion of middle income population will also support continued and further growth in demand for investment-linked and wealth management products. As a result, the insurance industry has, and will continue to, expand its role beyond merely providing protection products. Against this backdrop, prospects for increasing the insurance penetration rate in our economies are clearly positive. However, this will hinge on the ability of the industry to respond to these changing demographics and dynamics in the financial system. In 2006, the insurance premiums averaged 2.95% of GDP in South East Asia as compared with 8.8% in the U.S. or 16.5% in the U.K. Compared to the  BIS Review 134/2007  1  banking sector, the insurance industry remains relatively less developed and commands a significantly smaller percentage of the total financial assets of the region's financial system. To tap these opportunities, appropriate strategies, new thinking and approaches will be required. In this regard, a significant development has been the evolution of alternative distribution mechanisms for insurance products and services in the region, notably through bancassurance. Indeed, bancassurance has developed in a number of ASEAN markets into a viable alternative distribution approach to the traditional agency force. Perhaps, in those markets where the insurance distribution channels through agency force have yet to be firmly established, bancassurance could provide a quantum leap to allow insurers to rapidly widen their outreach by tapping into an established banking network and client base.