The 14th Annual Meeting and Conference of the Asian Forum of Insurance Regulators (AFIR) takes place in Macao
The Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) hosted “The 14th Annual Meeting and Conference of the Asian Forum of Insurance Regulators (AFIR)” in Macao during 22-23 May 2019. Delegates from the insurance regulators in Asia and Oceania exchanged their views and shared their experiences on the theme of “Promoting Broader and Sustainable Insurance Market with Effective Supervisory Practices”, focusing on the challenges and opportunities brought by global climate change and innovative technology to the development of the insurance industry.
Dr. Chan Sau San, Chairman of the AMCM, said in his opening remarks that with the rapid development of the region’s economy, Asia’s insurance market has been booming. Macao, as one of the fast-growing economies in the region, total asset of the insurance sector has increased by 42 times during the past two decades, and is now equivalent to 28% of Macao’s GDP. Due to volatile global financial markets and higher frequency of extreme weather, global demand for insurance is continuously rising, creating considerable business opportunities to the insurance industry, and at the same time, posing serious challenges to the insurance supervision. Therefore, the AMCM hopes to maintain close cooperation and communications with regional insurance regulators through hosting AFIR in Macao, continuously updating and improving regulatory measures, strengthening cross-border supervisory coordination and always be vigilant and collaborative to industry challenges, with the aim to jointly promote sustainable development of the insurance industry.
Clement Cheung, Chairman of the AFIR and Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Insurance Authority said in his welcome remarks that since its establishment in 2006, AFIR has been serving as a platform to facilitate dialogue, promote exchange and cooperation among insurance regulators in the Asia-Pacific region. This role will become more significant in the years to come as the region is widely recognised as the main source of business growth for the global insurance industry.
The AFIR was established in 2006 as a platform for facilitating information exchange, cooperation and mutual understanding among Asian and Oceanic insurance regulators. The forum brought together some 50 delegates from insurance regulators in 15 jurisdictions in the Asia-Pacific region and representatives of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), the Financial Stability Institute (FSI), the National Association of Insurance Commissioners of the USA (NAIC), the Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
