Insurance and Economic Development III
/Extracted 30NOV2011 fromwww.unctad.org/en/docs/ditctncd20074_en.pdf
Given the importance of the insurance sector, its potential for growth, rapidly emerging
trends within the sector including the trend towards liberalization of insurance services, it
is essential to clearly understand the challenges and opportunities that arise from both the
development of the insurance sector as well as its liberalization for developing countries.
It was with this objective in mind that UNCTAD, at the behest of its member States and
in accordance to its mandate pursuant to the ninth session of the Commission on Trade in
Goods and Services, and Commodities, held in Geneva from 14 to 18 March 2005, held
an ad hoc expert meeting on insurance services on 24 November 2005.
The discussions indicated that while insurance service liberalization and globalization can
be beneficial, they have different impacts on developed and developing countries.
Country experiences seemed to indicate that liberalization of insurance services needs to
be accompanied by a strategic and clearly defined national policy on the financial services
sector in general and the insurance sector in particular (taking into account each country’s
specific national development objectives), as well as the development of efficient and
effective regulatory and supervisory frameworks, in line with international initiatives...