OECD–ADBI Roundtable on Insurance and Retirement Savings in Asia kicks off in Colombo

By Nisthar Cassim

The two-day OECD-ADBI Roundtable on Insurance and Retirement Savings in Asia kicked off yesterday at The Kingsbury, Colombo hosted by the Insurance Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (IRCSL).

The prestigious international gathering for the first time in Sri Lanka has brought together over 70 policymakers, central bankers, regulatory leaders, and private sector experts from across the globe to discuss the future of financial stability.

The Roundtable is a premier collaborative initiative organised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), with the generous support of the Government of Japan. By hosting this forum, the IRCSL reaffirms its role as a proactive leader in the regional regulatory landscape, dedicated to bridging the protection gap and fostering a more resilient financial ecosystem.

The OECD is an international organisation that works to build better policies for better lives. Its ‘Working Party on Insurance and Private Pensions’ (WPIP) is globally recognised for developing evidence-based policy recommendations that support financial resilience and inclusive economic growth. The ADBI provides intellectual and policy support to policymakers across the Asian Development Bank’s developing member countries, helping address the challenges of poverty reduction, sustainable development, and economic resilience. 

IRCSL Chairman Dr. Ajith Raveendra De Mel, ADBI Deputy Dean Byungsik Jung and OECD Head of Insurance and Pensions Pablo Antolin kicked off the inauguration.

Sri Lanka to double insurance penetration via new vision and roadmap

IRCSL Chairman Dr. De Mel said the partnership in hosting the forum demonstrates the common commitment to advancing financial resilience across the region.

He said the roundtable discussions will focus on evidence-based perspectives and guidelines, share global best practices, and investigate workable policy solutions to fortify the financial systems and better safeguard  citizens, markets, and economy from the potential threats. 

He said that the agenda emphasises the crucial fact that business expansion and financial sector earnings are not the only factor driving the development of insurance and pension markets. It is a significant priority for public policy building, robust and lasting safety nets are made possible by strengthening these long-term financial issues, institutions, particularly in light of the significant economic changes, aging population, and rising environmental and climate concern.

IRCSL chief told delegates that the organisation is celebrating its silver jubilee hence hosting the roundtable was historical. 

He also briefed about IRCSL’s new vision and insurance roadmap and reforms for 2030 and 2035 to double the insurance penetration in Sri Lanka to 3% of GDP.

“Our ultimate objective is to go beyond traditional regulatory boundaries and support the significant expansion of Sri Lankans insurance market by adequately addressing structural barriers and strengthening public confidence through greater transparency,” Dr. De Mel said. “Our new revenue strategy heavily emphasizes promoting innovation while preserving market integrity and inclusivity,” he added.

Major demographic and social transformation sweeping Asia Pacific

ADBI Deputy Dean Byungsik Jung  spoke of the roundtable’s vision to support sustainable and inclusive growth across Asia and the Pacific. 

He said the region is facing many complex and interconnected challenges from climate risks and geopolitical tensions to rapid technological transformation, including AI. 

It was stressed that discussions on insurance and retirement savings are becoming increasingly important. First, Asia is undergoing a major demographic and social transformation in several economies. The old age dependency ratio is increasing faster than the development of social protection systems in the past. Many Asia economies relied heavily on family-based supporting systems, but today organisation, industrialisation, migration, and changing lifestyles are reducing the traditional capacity for intergenerational support. Each social and economic transformation is creating a growing gap in older aging support, a gap that increasingly needs to be addressed through well-functioning social protection systems, he said. 

Secondly, Jung  said the Asia Pacific region is highly exposed to climate-related disasters, health emergencies, and other large scale shocks, which are increasing in both social and complexity. These risks are testing the resilience of households within social financial systems and governments in Asia, where many people remain financially unprotected, while insurance and pension markets in Asia have been rapidly growing, but the protection gap remains large as well. 

He pointed out that such protection gaps create fiscal pressure, slow economic recovery, and often affect vulnerable communities the most. “Insurance and pension systems are important policy tools for strengthening resilience, protecting livelihoods, supporting long term saving and improving economic security,” ADBI Deputy Dean Jung emphasised. 

Knowledge sharing, global best practices and evidenced-based guidelines

OECD Head of Insurance and Pensions Pablo Antolin said the roundtable is quite important as it brings together all stakeholders to share experiences to learn from each other and from understanding the experiences, and learning the policies that countries have implemented. All our policy guidelines are based on evidence from learning from the countries.  Post-roundtable, the OECD will be producing a summary of all discussions and will be published in the OECD webpage. 

Session one yesterday was on “Insurance market and regulatory developments in Asia” with speakers being IRCSL Director General Damayanthi Fernando, Philippines Insurance Commission Director I Dr. Ronald Paguirigan, and Vietnam Insurance Supervisory Authority Vietnam Insurance Development Institute Officer, Scientific Research and Training Division Vu Thi Van Anh. It was moderated by OECD Senior Policy Analyst Timothy Bishop.

The second session was on “Pension market and regulatory developments in Asia”. The speakers were Department of Pensions of Sri Lanka Director General Chaminda Hettiarachchi, Central Bank of Armenia Board Member Artak Manukyan, The Financial Regulatory Commission of Mongolia Deputy Director and Senior Advisor Ninjin Altanbulag and Social Security Regulator of Cambodia Director, Department of Supervision Leng Soklong and it was moderated by ADBI Deputy Dean Byungsik Jung.

The day one also saw the presentation of the OECD report: Financial Protection Against Catastrophic Risks: Floods, Fires and Other Major Risks by Leigh Wolfrom, Policy Analyst, OECD.

It also saw a session  on “Innovative approaches to addressing evolving climate risks (focus on cyclone risk).” Speakers were JBA Risk Management (India and Singapore Offices) Managing Director Mansi Kalra, AXA Climate Head, India and South East Asia Pankaj Tomar, Descartes Underwriting Head of Southeast Asia Wee Beng Seow. And Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation CEO Dr. Christopher Wallace. The moderator and speaker was Japan Financial Services Agency Advisor to the Commissioner and Chair, Global Asia Insurance Partnership (GAIP) and South East Asia Disaster Risk Insurance Facility (SEADRIF) Professor Yoshihiro Kawai.

The last session on day one was “Leveraging capital market appetite for natural hazard risks.” The speakers were Insurance Authority, Hong Kong, China Associate Director (Policy and Legislation) Adrian Lam, Bermuda Monetary Authority Director, Financial Stability and Research Department Dr. Marcelo Ramella and Tokio Marine Holdings.Unit Leader and Assistant Manager, Global Reinsurance Group Ken Oka. It was moderated by OECD Policy Analyst Leigh Wolfrom.

Today (3), the roundtable will continue with sessions on “Balancing the opportunities and challenges linked to the increased use of data and individualisation of insurance and pensions” with PensionBox Founder Kuldeep Parashar, LOLC Life Assurance Ltd., Executive Director Chandana Aluthgama, and Institute of Actuaries of India Vice President Anurag Rastogi as speakers.

“Building trust in insurance and pensions” will also be discussed with Employees Provident Fund, Malaysia

Manager, Policy and Strategy Department Muhammad Arafat bin Mohd Azwar, Forte Life Assurance (Cambodia) CEO Sythan Prou, Asian Institute of Insurance Chief Operations Officer and Senior Advisor, ASEAN Insurance Training and Research Institute Fiona Chew and Insurance Institute of India Former Professor George Thomas as speakers and moderated by ADBI Capacity Building Specialist Joy Blessilda Sinay.

Post-lunch Softlogic Life Insurance Managing Director Iftikar Ahamed will deliver a keynote on “The evolving role of life insurers in securing financial well-being for Asia’s ageing populations.”

This will be followed by a sessions titled “Protecting against longevity in ageing societies” with speakers being IAA Representative and Actsure Lab Executive Director Thanuja Krishnaratna, OJK, Indonesia Director Actuarial Department Asep Suwondo, Global Asia Insurance Partnership CEO Min Hung Cheng and Iftikar Ahamed as speakers. OECD Policy Analyst and Actuary Jessica Mosher will be the moderator.

The final session will be “Capital market development and balance of payments: the role of insurance and pensions” with Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority of India Chief General Manager, K. Mohan Gandhi and Central Bank of Sri Lanka Deputy Governor Dr. Chandranath Amarasekara as speakers and OECD Policy Analyst Stéphanie Payet as moderator.