Regulator praises industry resilience
The government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) represented by CEO John Lee, recently spoke at the Asian Insurance Forum 2022, highlighting the measures and strategies to enhance market opportunities domestically and internationally, innovating to ensure market sustainability and maintaining market stability.
He said the insurance industry will continue to play an integral role in national strategies including the 14th Five-Year Plan, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) development, and the Belt and Road Initiative.
“On domestic circulation, we are making final preparations for the establishment of insurance after-sale service centres in the GBA, including the strategic locations of Nansha and Qianhai. This will bolster support for customer enquiries, premium payment, claims settlement and complaints handling for holders of insurance policies issued in Hong Kong,” he added. “We are also forging ahead with the introduction of the “unilateral recognition” policy. This will obviate the need for private cars entering Guangdong from Hong Kong via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge to separately obtain compulsory third-party insurance coverage in the Mainland.”
Speaking about areas that require innovation, he observed: “One such area is the compilation of a mortality table for the GBA that could re-engineer cross-boundary medical and critical illness products. This would bring greater convenience for Hong Kong policy holders to live, study, work and travel throughout different parts of the GBA, thus contributing to the vision of a seamless and dynamic metropolis.”
Turning to international circulation, he said Hong Kong stands as a prominent global risk management centre and regional insurance hub. “Multinational insurers and reinsurers, including 12 of the world’s top 20, that is 60 per cent, have chosen Hong Kong as a base for their regional operations. We have the knowledge and expertise to produce bespoke risk solutions for major infrastructure projects related to the far-reaching Belt and Road Initiative. We also serve as an effective launch pad for Mainland enterprises interested in making a foray into overseas markets along the Belt and Road and beyond,” he said.
“As a promising start for our venture into insurance-linked securities, or ILS, two catastrophe bonds totalling USD180 million were issued in October 2021 and June 2022. I look forward to more good news on both the number and structure of ILS issued in Hong Kong,” he added.
