Malaysian Reinsurance Bhd (Malaysian Re) and Swiss research agency, Dr Schanz, Alms & Co have released the second edition of the annual publication, ASEAN Insurance Pulse, at the ASEAN Insurance Summit 2018.

The launch was led by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) assistant governor Adnan Zaylani Mohamad Zahid, and witnessed by MNRB group chairman Datuk Sharkawi Alis, MNRB president and group executive officer Mohd Din Merican, and Malaysian Re president and chief executive officer Zainudin Ishak.

This year’s edition contains in-depth, structured interviews with 41 insurance executives across all 10 ASEAN member countries. It focuses on the region’s protection gaps and explores ways to narrow the gap between total economic disaster losses and the small fraction of those which are insured. It also presents an overview of the current state and prospects of the region’s US$28 billion non-life insurance sector.

“ASEAN Insurance Pulse 2018 pools together the region’s insurance wisdom and insights to identify the root causes of protection gaps and solicits the participants for pragmatic solutions,” said Zainudin.

“To most of the senior executives interviewed, non-life protection gaps are a severe threat to their respective countries’ economic growth and societal progress.

“To close the gap between economic and insured losses, recommendations range from enhanced public-private partnerships, the introduction of subsidised schemes, the provision of tax incentives and compulsory insurance requirements to awareness and education campaigns.”