The Philippine finance chief is calling on the insurance sector to be at the forefront of innovation amid the technological advancements brought by the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

 “This Revolution demands of us serious rethinking about how we do things, how we make products and how we create wealth for our people,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said in a speech at the 29th East Asian Insurance Congress in Metro Manila on Monday.

Dominguez believes the sector should explore new products that will not only mitigate risks for corporations but also mitigate risks for communities vulnerable to natural calamities.

Insurance and other financial services could “become more efficient, accessible and innovative, leading to shorter transaction time and the ability to quickly exchange data between institutions, which, in turn, would make new products possible, and hence, greater financial inclusion,” Dominguez added.

A recent UN study found that economic losses wrought by disasters can cost the Asia-Pacific region upwards of US$160 billion per year by 2030. This is compounded by the fact that only 8% of disaster losses in the region are covered by insurance, according to the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

“Business as usual is unsustainable […] policy makers and financial strategists in both the public and private sectors have to work together,” said Shamshad Akhtar, ESCAP executive secretary, who spoke at an event on financing for disaster risk reduction in Asia-Pacific at the UN headquarters in New York.

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