The General Insurance Association of Singapore (GIA) has unveiled a new committee aimed to promote the area as a global marine insurance hub.
The Marine Insurance Committee (MIC), which is a sub-committee within the larger GIA Management Committee, will be led by Michael Gourlay, CEO of MSIG Singapore, who will become chairman of the group.
Gourlay told
Insurance Business that, while the marine insurance market and wider maritime industry already play an important role in Singapore, the committee will look to help boost the market in the region.
“It is so important that we represent marine insurance in the Singapore insurance markets, which are broader than just Singapore, and we promote the interests of our members and make sure that the insurance product can be bought closer to the customers rather than from overseas markets,” Gourlay said.
“The capacity and capability is here, we just need to promote Singapore as a hub to make sure that customers know that we exist and that the capability is here.”
As part of the launch, the MIC will look to build a strong relationship with the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) as the committee looks to boost relationships between underwriters in the region and the global body.
“We are renewing our relationship with IUMI as the global representative of insurers to get more expertise and share more knowledge and that has been on the back burner in some ways for the last five or six years,” Gourlay continued.
“Making sure that the full capability and capacity is being brought into Singapore is one thing we are doing from a purely insurance point of view.”
While the maritime industry is experiencing some problems, highlighted by the recent collapse of South Korean shipping firm Hanjin, Lars Lange, secretary-general of IUMI said that the new group is an important step for the industry.
“At a time when the marine insurance sector is undergoing a period of change, we are keen to support the committee and help raise the importance of the Asian marine insurance market as well as the marine insurance industry as a whole,” Lange said.
MIC will comprise of eight other active insurance and marine industry practitioners as well as representatives providing legal, surveying and claims perspectives.
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