A healthy and functional insurance sector is one of the less obvious markers of any nation’s state of development.
It’s no big secret that Bangladesh has lagged behind quite significantly when it comes to insurance, despite all the progress we have made as a people, as an economy. But there is very little excuse for the status quo to remain as is, especially apropos of our nation’s continued digitalization across every facet of our infrastructure.
To that end, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has rightly pointed out that the digitalization of the insurance sector is the only way forward for people to finally understand the importance of buying insurance and for the sector to witness any form of growth.
The need to better insure important-yet-risk-oriented sectors such as our RMG industry, and of course our transport sector.
Of course, trust is still a key issue when it comes to getting more people to get insurance. When getting people to trust administrative bodies in handling their money becomes a recurring issue, it behooves concerned parties to perhaps do some soul-searching.
There is an immense amount of corruption that lies at every rung of our administrative bureaucracy, which makes it natural for people to be wary of trusting these bodies with their hard-earned money.
Needless to say, these problem elements need to be addressed and rooted out before any concrete efforts towards the revitalization of our insurance sector can be taken.
But the fact that solutions are now being proposed, that too from the highest seat of our government, is a good sign that the issues are being recognized, and that it’s not only the people who must understand the importance of a healthy insurance sector.
Awareness and trust are the key barriers towards achieving that goal and digitalization will pave the way to further reinforce our insurance sector. As our economy continues its upward trajectory, insurance will become an increasingly important facet.