Sep 2024 Issue No.325
Hong Kong as an International Insurance Centre
T
he recently released Sigma Report on World Insurance 2023 by Swiss Re indicated that Hong Kong boasts the highest insurance penetration rate, the second highest insurance density, and ranks 16th globally as an insurance market. While we take pride in this outstanding achievement, as the industry representative body, the HKFI remains committed to promoting further market development and ensuring that Hong Kong is adequately protected. Policy Address 2024
H
KFI has been invited to various consultation sessions during the past two months. On 20 August 2024 at a consultation session hosted by HKSAR Financial Secretary, HKFI Chairman Mr Ivan Tam conveyed the industry wish list on four strategic areas: • Enhance the capacity of marine insurance through policy and market development. • Reinforce Hong Kong’s risk management capabilities in infrastructure projects. • Attract Mainland enterprises to set up captives in Hong Kong. • Allow taxpayers to pay for QDAP of his / her non-working spouse to enjoy the same level of tax incentive, and name Protection-Linked Plan as an eligible product for tax concession. These initiatives are key to reinforcing Hong Kong’s status as an international insurance hub and risk management centre. At the same time, they ensure that our community is adequately protected with appropriate coverage and reliable claims assurance. At another consultation for the medical sector hosted by the HKSAR Chief Executive the Hon John Lee, HKFI was invited to share views from the insurance perspective. We highlighted the indispensable role of insurance in triaging patients from the public sector and expressed growing concerns over the ever-escalating medical inflation. We also suggested a few measures to enhance medical fee transparency, reduce wastage of medical insurance, strengthen data connectivity and improve efficiency. Engagements with CEPU
S
ince we published the Think Tank Proposal in April 2023, we have actively engaged in constructive dialogues with the Chief Executive’s Policy Unit (CEPU).
Recently, we held two meetings with the CEPU focused on the development of the marine insurance and captive markets. In our first meeting in August, we discussed the Marine Insurance Association’s proposals to enhance the marine insurance market and support the growth of the entire maritime services value chain. During our second meeting in September with Dr Stephen Wong, Head of CEPU, and his team, we invited seasoned reinsurers, broker, and captive insurer to share insights on strengthening Hong Kong's reinsurance capacity, attracting more brokers to place risks locally, and encouraging enterprises to establish captives in Hong Kong. These discussions are part of our ongoing dialogue with the CEPU, and we look forward to maintaining this momentum to advance the development of our industry.