Professor Dr Fatta Bahadur KC, chairman of the Insurance Board, the insurance sector regulator, and Krishna Prasad Devkota, joint secretary at the Ministry of Finance, jointly signed the declaration on behalf of Nepal at the recently held Mutual Exchange Forum on Inclusive Insurance in Cebu, the Philippines.
Other countries that signed the six-point declaration are Indonesia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. [break]
“This display of commitment is aligned with the long-standing efforts in the insurance industry to enhance knowledge exchange and learning among insurance regulators and policymakers,” says a statement issued by the Insurance Board. “It is envisioned that this symbolic commitment will translate into concrete applications of the Insurance Core Principles espoused by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, the global insurance standard-setting body.”
Professor Dr KC said:
“The Cebu Declaration will be instrumental in improving socio-economic conditions of low-income households particularly in a developing country like Nepal.” He also emphasized on the need to generate awareness about microinsurance among stakeholders.
The declaration, among others, recognizes the importance of inclusive insurance as a tool for poverty reduction and socio-economic development in developing countries, thereby securing local as well as global financial stability and sustainability
The declaration also identifies the need to develop an effective policy, regulatory and supervisory environment in each of the signatory countries so that a foundation could be laid for an inclusive insurance market, and interest of majority of the population could be served.
It also stresses on the need to adopt globally accepted regulatory and supervisory standards of the insurance industry, particularly the work done by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, in a manner that protects policyholders.
Although Nepal had earlier tried to introduce microinsurance programs to pave way for low-income groups to purchase cheap insurance products, it could not do so due to dissolution of the parliament.
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