KARACHI, Pakistan: President Dr. Arif Alvi has emphasized the need for bringing greater transparency in the bank insurance sector as it would increase the quantum of public investments, thereby strengthening the economy.
In his address at a Conference “Transparency in Bancassurance and Role of Ombudsman” organized by the Federal Insurance Ombudsman (FIO) at Governor House in Karachi on Wednesday, the president said that good insurance and banking products would enhance the trust of the people in the “bank assurance” sector and bring increased liquidity to the economy.
The event was attended by the Federal Banking Ombudsman Kamran Shahzad, the Federal Insurance Ombudsman Khawar Jameel, the Chairman Insurance Association of Pakistan Muhammad Hussain Hirji, officials and representatives from the banking and insurance industry.
President Arif Alvi said that it was the duty of the state to provide a regulatory framework to the banking and insurance industry to bring growth and transparency.
The president called upon the insurance industry to improve checks and balances and filtering mechanisms to conduct due diligence before the issuance of insurance policies to policyholders, besides honouring insurance claims in a timely and transparent manner.
The president further said that there was a great need of strengthening the insurance sector, and stressed the need to take steps towards further enhancing the contribution of the Insurance sector to the GDP of the Country.
Dr. Arif Alvi said that the share of the insurance sector in Pakistan’s economy was less than 1 percent whereas, in other regional countries, it was around 3 percent.
The president said that the insurance sector can offer profitable products for the general public to incentivize savings by individuals for profitable investments and to support the economy simultaneously.
The president also called for moving the money parked in the real estate sector to other productive sectors of the economy to keep the wealth of the nation in circulation. New products like crop insurance and social insurance should be introduced in the wake of the current climatic situation, he added.
While stressing the need for bringing transparency, the president said that accurate information about the insurance policies should be provided to people at the time of selling the policy to build people’s trust in insurance products and services.
President Arif Alvi said that best practices should be adopted by the salesforce of the insurance and banking sector to win the trust of the clientele through fair play.
Speaking on the occasion, the Federal Insurance Ombudsman Khawar Jameel apprised the audience about the performance and growth of the organization.
Khawar Jameel said that during the last year, monetary relief to the tune of Rs 2.57 billion had been provided to the complainants. This has been achieved through amicable dispute resolution and an effective complaint redressal system at FIO, he added.
Earlier, President Arif Alvi also distributed the cheques among the complainants who got their insurance disputes resolved through Federal Insurance Ombudsman.
