National Insurance Day to be observed on 1 March
Bangladesh
National Insurance Day will be celebrated in Bangladesh on 1 March for the second time in the country's history.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the event, virtually, at a ceremony at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal is due to preside over the 10am event.
On Monday, a press conference was held at the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) premises in this regard.
The day will be observed with the theme "Mujib borsher angikar, bima hok shobar" which translates to "Insurance for everyone is promised in Mujib Year."
IDRA has arranged an insurance fair on the occasion, which will be held at the same location. Insurance companies will take part in the two-day-long occasion.
Addressing the conference, the IDRA chairman Dr M Mosharrof Hossain said, "National Insurance Day will be observed with events – such as webinars, discussion programmes and an insurance fair – instead of rallies to increase public awareness regarding insurance and the development of this sector."
"We will host webinars among non-residential Bangladeshis and university-going students to evoke the importance of the insurance sector," he added.
On 1 March, 1960, father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman started working at then-Alpha Insurance Company. Therefore, the government has decided to celebrate this day as the National Insurance Day every year.
Md Ashadul Islam, senior secretary of Financial Institutions Division, Ministry of Finance and the chairpersons and chief executives of insurance companies will be present on the occasion.
Data by Swiss Re Institute, a leading global reinsurer, shows that an overall insurance penetration in Bangladesh stood at a meagre 0.49% in 2019 – the lowest among emerging Asian countries.
The penetration rate is measured as the ratio of premium underwritten in a particular year to GDP.
There are 78 companies in the country's insurance sector. Of them, 32 are life insurance and 46 are non-life insurance companies.
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