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uch has been said about the benefits, as well as some drawbacks, of creating an integrated ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) '€” set to come into force in December 2015 '€” on ASEAN economies, trades and industries. But its impact on the 620 million people of the 10 member countries has so far received little discourse and attention and remains obscure.

For the financial services sector, customers will be the big winners of the free flow of goods and services in an integrated ASEAN. We in the ASEAN insurance industry, for one, expect the AEC to foster more innovation in insurance product development and distribution, which will lead to a greater variety of insurance products and means of distributing them.

With open borders, products that are not widely offered in parts of the region, including various types of annuities, mortgage life insurance, and homeowners'€™ insurance, can be made more available. Having a wider array of insurance policies will give ASEAN customers more choices in deciding the products that best suit their changing needs, as many of them join the middle class and seek more wealth and protection products.

Beyond mere variety, the greater competition the AEC will promote as economic borders open up will encourage insurers to come up with better products and to boost the quality of services they offer customers. Enhanced benefits and better service experience will be to the advantage of the customers. And as part of a single economic region, they will enjoy portability of their insurance contracts, which will ensure continuous protection even as they move from one member country to another.

More importantly to a region where most of the countries have very low insurance penetration '€” with the ASEAN insurance penetration rate standing at only 3.35 percent in 2013 '€” and most of the populations have no basic form of insurance protection, the AEC will hopefully pave the way for a greater take-up of insurance products.

With more insurers operating across the region, there will be more bearers of information and education on the necessity and importance of having insurance protection. Access to insurance products, particularly in areas not traditionally served by existing insurers, can be expected to widen. The foray of banks and other institutions that serve as channels for insurance distribution to more areas in the region will also help insurers reach broader swaths of the ASEAN populations.

These developments will be especially important as the region'€™s working-age population '€” the main cohort that buys wealth and insurance products '€” is expected to further grow and account for 68 percent of the total Southeast Asian population by 2025.

The need to boost and keep the current position of their insurance companies as trade barriers go down will likely urge member countries to look into and potentially adopt the practices of more developed member markets. If insurers from other markets could offer more transparent transactions, better quality standards and higher professionalism, local insurers will have to pass muster with them in these areas in order to remain competitive.

On the regulatory level, not all ASEAN countries have enacted such laws as those that safeguard bank deposits, insurance policies and customers'€™ personal data. But we believe this will ultimately change as member countries work as a single economic region and endeavor to measure up to their ASEAN peers. As practices, standards and regulations improve across the region, insurance customers will reap the most benefits.

On our part at the ASEAN Insurance Council (AIC), an organization comprising the life and non-life insurance associations of the ASEAN markets, we will remain a primary driving force in charting the development of the insurance industries in the region. We will continue to boost the cooperation of the industry and regulators by bringing them together to discuss issues of importance to the insurance business and policyholders.

It is through exchanges between industry players and regulators that ASEAN markets learn from each other and work towards enhancing their practices, standards and regulations. These exchanges will become even more important as insurance industries and regulators help work towards creating a single regional insurance market.

To ensure we robustly drive the progress of the ASEAN insurance industries, the AIC will undertake research initiatives through our newly created research and development division. Finding ways to better protect and support the interests of our policyholders will take precedence in our research agenda.

Through these initiatives, we hope to better examine and discuss issues with regulators and to continue lending a hand in moving the insurance industry forward as we create a single ASEAN economic community.