Lack of marketing policy is the major problem for insurance companies in Bangladesh, experts said in Dhaka on Sunday.
Managements of insurance companies spend a small amount of money for advertisement which is a key marketing tool for business promotion, they observed.Their observations came on the second and last day of the 1st SAARC insurance regulators conference 2013 held at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city.
A number of insurance experts, policy makers of the SAARC countries took part at the two-day conference to share their ideas for developing the insurance sector in the south Asian nations.
The first session of the conference discussed numerous issues about the insurance sector under the title of ‘India and Bangladesh-Legacy of British Insurance Act and Modernisation thereof’ moderated by Damanthi Fernando, director (legal), Insurance Board of Sri Lanka.
During his presentation titled ‘Insurance laws and regulations of Bangladesh,’ Md Nurul Islam Mollah, member of the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority, said domestic insurance market should be made effective to address the changed circumstances.
Lack of qualified officials, traditional methods, lack of training for employees, lack of exposure, absence of business ethics and insufficient services are also hampering the growth prospect of the insurance sector in the country, Mollah said.
Growing cost of business is another problem that insurance companies are facing now-a-days. Government tax, house rent, utility charge, commission fee and cost of stationeries are growing day by day. But their businesses are not growing so fast with that rate, he observed.
Besides, policyholders are not willing to pay too much premium with growing cost that is hampering the strategies of insurance companies, Mollah said. ‘So, they are facing difficulties in running their business efficiently.’
In order to meet the challenges, the Insurance Act 2010 and IDRA Act 2010 have been enacted and the new acts have made a promise to bring the positive changes and looking forward for the beginning of globally competitive modern insurance sector in Bangladesh, he said.
Mollah also said that the insurance business could thrive if proper motivation policy was taken to create awareness among the mass people of the rural areas.
Radhakrishnan Nair, member of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, also presented the paper on regulatory framework for insurance sector in India at the session.
-With New Age input
