Tokio Marine upbeat on Thai prospects

The group will, therefore, use the Kingdom as its base for providing cross-border insurance with neighbouring countries.
President and chief executive officer Tsuyoshi Nagano visited Thailand yesterday as part of a tour to examine business opportunities in the Thai market and Myanmar, which he visited on Thursday.
Thailand has witnessed a growth slowdown in terms of gross domestic product, consumption, investment and exports, but in the view of Nagano, the country will post healthy growth in the long run.
Tokio Marine is, therefore, continuing to look for merger and acquisition opportunities in both life and non-life insurance businesses in Thailand, in order to strengthen its growth within Asean, he said.
“I do believe Thai consumers are now more aware about life and non-life insurance, because of the growing middle-income section of the population. Moreover, Japanese companies have increased their investment here.
“Meanwhile, Thailand is becoming an ageing society, and Tokio Marine realises that it is able to help offer insurance programmes to meet the needs of ageing people in this country,” he said.
Japan itself is an ageing country, but one in which the insurance-market has matured, so the role of other less mature markets is important for Tokio Marine Holdings, he explained.
The group provides life and non-life insurance services in Japan and internationally, with foreign-based business accounting for 35 per cent of overall profit.
Some 12 per cent of earnings are contributed by Asean business, but under its medium-term business plan, the level is targeted to reach 20 per cent by the end of 2017.
Thailand is at the centre of Asean, which as a region is attracting flows of infrastructure investment, and both life and non-life insurance are able to support those activities, said the group president.
Tokio Marine Holdings has two companies in the Kingdom: Tokio Marine Insurance (Thailand) and Tokio Marine Life Insurance (Thailand). In the first stage of the parent company’s expansion plans, Tokio Marine Insurance (Thailand) will provide cross-border insurance products such as transport insurance to companies that have invested in neighbouring countries.
As to Myanmar, it is an expanding Asean country and will become a manufacturing base for many foreign companies, whose investments need to be protected by insurance, he said. The group will, therefore, set up a branch there, although the operation will take some time to bear fruit.
Myanmar will be Tokio Marine Holdings’ eighth presence in Asean. The group has no footprint in either Laos or Cambodia.