The First ECO Senior Officials/Heads Meeting for Disaster Insurance Authorities and Training Workshop on Disaster Risk Transfer through Insurance were held virtually on December 13-14 December via virtual means.
The events hosted by the Islamic Republic of Iran saw delegates from the Islamic Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Republic of Kazakhstan, Republic of Tajikistan and Republic of Uzbekistan gather to discuss the issue of the creation of the regional; (1) Disaster Information System and (2) Disaster Insurance System as envisioned by the ECO Vision 2025.
Speaking at the senior officials meeting ECO Deputy Secretary General, Dr. Sayed Yahya Akhlaqi, stated that the Economic Cooperation Organization attaches great importance for collaboration in the field of Disaster Risk Management. He further stated that the 8th ECO Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (March 17, 2021) adopted the “ECO Regional Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction” and the Roadmap of Implementing ECORFDRR (2021-2025). The ECO-RFDRR and its roadmap seek to enhance collaboration among Member States to integrate disaster risk reduction into economic cooperation in the region.
Dr. Golamreza Soleimani, the President of the Central Insurance of Iran and Mr. Esmail Najjar, the President of the Iran National Disaster Management Organization gave their statements during the meeting where they enumerated the actions of the Islamic Republic of Iran on Disaster Risk Management. “The Iranian insurance market consists of 34 insurance and reinsurance companies active in the field of life and non-life. In 2020, the total written premium reached to USD 19.3 billion while its total claim paid was equal to USD 11.8 billion. Also, the fire insurance written premium as the most important field of natural and man-made disaster insurance coverage, reached to USD 880 million, and the total claim paid was equal to USD 368 million,” Mr. Soleimani said.
The Deputy Head of Agricultural Insurance Fund, Mr. Mohammad Ibrahim Hassannejad addressed the meeting on Iran’s Agricultural Insurance Experiences in Natural Disaster Risk Management. He proposed holding conference on “Agricultural Insurance in Iran, Experiences and Achievements” with the participation of managers and experts in insurance and agriculture from ECO member countries. The meeting will seek to provide Member States with an insight into the policies, strategies, services and achievements of the Agricultural Insurance Fund of the Islamic Republic of Iran, he added.
The Senior Officials/Heads of Delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Republic of Turkey, and Republic of Uzbekistan delivered their statements.
The Training Workshop on Disaster Risk Transfer through Insurance was also held virtually on 13th December 2021. The Training workshop was arranged by the Central Insurance of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The workshop sought to create a common understanding on disaster and climate risk among ECO Member States while strengthening risk governance and resiliency on insurance.
