Kathmandu, September 9

The two-day conference of Association of Insurers and Reinsurance of Developing Countries (AIRDC) with the theme of ‘Building Financial Resilience - Disaster Risks Financing and Insurance’ is going to held in Kathmandu, on September 25 and 26. It will have participation of around 500 foreign and local delegates including insurance sector regulators, insurance companies, reinsurance firms and insurance brokers from a dozen countries.

The conference is going to be organised by the Insurance Board of Nepal — insurance sector regulator — in association with Nepal Insurers Association and Nepal Reinsurance Company. According to Chiranjibi Chapagain, chairman of Insurance Board, the conference will be a platform to share experiences, regulatory practices, emerging challenges, global trends and forge collaboration to take forward the insurance sector in developing countries.

Disaster risk is the major challenge for the insurance sector as losses due to natural disasters have increased sharply over the last 30 years. However, the gap in insurance protection between uninsured and insured natural catastrophes has been increasing, with some $125 billion uninsured losses compared to $50 billion insured globally in 2014, an insurance coverage of less than 30 per cent, as reported by the globally acclaimed The Economist, 2015.

“Industrialised countries are exposed to larger absolute losses due to asset accumulation, while developing countries are

exposed to larger relative losses (in percentage of GDP) and to greater human costs. Nearly 90 per cent of disaster related deaths between 1991 and 2005 occurred in developing nations.”

In the 2015 Nepal earthquake, only three per cent of the damages reaching 25 per cent of GDP was insured, according to the Insurance Board. “Lack of financial protection against disasters leads to slow recovery, costly financing of relief and

reconstruction, and political manipulation in the allocation of post-disaster assistance.”

The conference will intensively discuss on the common challenges being faced by the insurance sector in developing countries. Critical issues related to ‘Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance’ will be addressed during various presentations and panel discussions among experienced and distinguished professional experts, according to Deep Prakash Pandey, president of Nepal Insurers Association.

It is reported that the titles of the discussion during the conference are leadership, ratings, micro insurance, digitisation,

insurtech - adopting new technology, cyber risk and catastrophe.  The conference will look at cutting-edge strategies in the insurance business and highlight the areas where brokers can rise to reinforce their role in the value chain of insurance as valued partners to both insurers and risk managers and corporate clients in the dynamic risk landscape.

“The conference will also have high-level and thought-provoking keynote addresses and allow delegates to leverage prime networking opportunities with industry leaders from the developing countries and across the world,” as per organisers.

The conference is organised every two years in different member nations and this will be the 21st series. It will be supported by AIRDC and the Association of Insurance Supervisory Authorities of Developing Countries (AISADC).