Economic development is the foremost agenda of government : Rana Arshad

Lahore : Special Advisor to Chief Minister, Rana Muhammad Arshad has said that economic development is the foremost agenda of present government. He stated this while addressing at International Insurance Conference, here today.

Chairman LII Muhammad Hashim, CEO United Insurance/Chairman IAP Muhammad Rahat Sadiq, CEO Alfalah Insurance Nasar-us-Samad Qureshi, CEO Punjab Health Initiative Management Company Zaheer Abbas Malik, Head of Commercial Adamjee Insurance Ahmad Shoaib, Past Chairman LII highlighted the importance of increasing insurance penetration in Pakistan’s Insurance sector.

Rana Muhammad Arshad said that economy is growing at pace of around 5.5% per annum and I congratulate Chairman Muhammad Hisham and council of Lahore Institute on successful organization of International Insurance Conference today on a very important topic of Increasing Insurance penetration in Pakistan.

It’s quite unfortunate that Pakistan lags far behind at regional and international level as far as insurance penetration is concerned. Pakistan’s economy is growing at pace of around 5.5% per annum. CPEC has opened new avenues of opportunity for our country and the region.

He urged insurance sector to grab this great opportunity and enhance their technical capability to insure huge risks. Development of Gwadar port and international airport as part of CPEC will also greatly help insurance companies in increasing their premiums.

He said that insurance is one of the pillars of modern economic world development. On one hand life insurance encourages savings and protection against unforeseen events while on other hand General insurance gives protection against unforeseen eventualities and calamities.

He said that Punjab government has started various initiatives to help insurance industry grow. We have formed a health care company which will manage health insurance for the most poor segment of our society  .This program will support already initiated Prime Minister  Health Insurance Program and will help increase insurance awareness and insurance penetration in country.

Rana Muhammad Arshad said that Punjab government has increased workmen compensation insurance compensation from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 4 lakh. This has helped vulnerable labourers families in event of accidental death or injuries. As they say prevention is better than cure so Punjab government has initiated various projects like Safe City Authority and Dolphin police force which will help in reducing street crimes and terrorism incidence across all districts of Punjab. Rescue 1122 coverage has been increased even beyond all 36 districts of Punjab and this has helped in saving many precious lives. This will eventually help insurance companies in reducing their claims. Bank of Punjab in past decade has issued loans worth billions in CM cab schemes and green tractor schemes. All the assets of these schemes were insured by private insurers and has helped companies grow their insurance premiums. Third party road act insurance enforcement will be an important step in increasing insurance penetration in Pakistan. Punjab government has started dealership registration system through PITB and is in serious discussion with all stake holders in implementation of Third Party Motor Insurance. We fully support Insurance industry in this important area and assure that government will take all necessary measures for this enforcement very soon.