Insurance regulators and industry players in Asia come together to crack the code of insurtech

Insurtech (from the words: insurance and IT technology) is increasingly relevant for Sri Lanka and the entire continent as climate change causes fluctuation in agricultural production, as well as in the protection of property and human life. The unpredictability of droughts and floods in the country as well as in the region has increased the vulnerability of farmers. Many forward thinking startups and big insurance companies are trying to crack the code in insurtech; thereby disrupting traditional business models. 

Risk protection is considered one of the key financial services that should be made accessible, affordable and available for all to ensure financial inclusion. To make this happen, countries pursuing financial inclusion should fundamentally provide and establish an effective and enabling regulatory environment that will encourage key players and relevant stakeholders to work together. Innovative and relevant business models should likewise be developed and adopted. 

The Mutual Exchange Forum on Inclusive Insurance (MEFIN Network) will hold its 5th Public Private Dialogue for Inclusive Insurance on 21 and 22 March 218 in Colombo. The Public Private Dialogue (PPD) on micro insurance or inclusive insurance is one of the platforms of the MEFIN Network to have peer-to-peer learning among insurance regulators. The PPD provides opportunity both to the regulators and the insurance industry to exchange knowledge and discuss issues and solutions in further developing the market of micro insurance in its respective jurisdictions. 

The PPD is conducted twice a year and is co-organised with the Munich Re Foundation. MEFIN is a network of insurance regulatory authorities and industry players in Asia working for a peer-to-peer exchange of knowledge and experiences. There are currently seven member-regulators representing Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Vietnam, Philippines, and Sri Lanka. 

This event is supported by the GIZ Regulatory Framework Promotion of Pro-poor Insurance Markets in Asia (RFPI Asia II) Project, which serves as Secretariat to the MEFIN Network. GIZ RFPI Asia contributes to the improvement of access to insurance by building capacities for insurance regulation and supervision and promoting development of innovative insurance solutions for the low-income people. From an insurance point of view, less efficient multi-peril crop insurance make it particularly suitable for emerging markets such as Sri Lanka to build a sustainable agri insurance business model. Recognising this, GIZ provided technical assistance to select countries in Asia through the Regulatory Framework Promotion of Pro-poor Insurance Markets in Asia (RFPI-Asia) project.

Beyond this event the Small and Medium Enterprise Sector Development (SME) program of GIZ in Sri Lanka is involved in the development of state-of-the-art insurance products, such as indemnity and yield based agricultural insurance schemes. Moreover it cooperates with the national and international start-up ecosystems to develop insurance products using big data analytics, artificial intelligence and blockchain.

GIZ is a service provider on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) with worldwide operations in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development. GIZ works together with its partners to develop effective solutions that offer people better prospects and sustainably improve their living conditions. GIZ is a public-benefit federal enterprise and supports the German Government as well as many public and private sector clients in a wide variety of areas, including economic development and employment, energy and the environment, and peace and security.