Munich Re, the world’s top reinsurance company, is prepared to offer reinsurance coverage for life insurance and non-life insurance categories to Iranian firms.
Abdolnasser Hemmati, president of Central Insurance company of Iran, held talks with Nikolaus von Bomhard, Munich Re’s current CEO and Joachim Wenning, company’s designated CEO Monday in Munich. Expanding collaboration was the center of discussions.
Wenning is set to take over as Munich Re's CEO from April 2017. “His presence implies that the reinsurer has long-term plans for operating in the Iranian market,” according to a press release by CII on Tuesday.
Hemmati also presented a report on Iran’s insurance market and government’s plans for promoting the sector, calling European insurers to invest in the 80-million strong market and introduce innovative insurance coverage.
Hemmati travelled to the UK and Germany to hold talks with major insurance and reinsurance firms. He held meetings with Inga Beale, Lloyd’s of London CEO, Friday in London. He also called on Victor Peignet, chief executive of the French insurer ESCOR. Both firms expressed interest in working with Iran.
Welcoming the proposal, German insurers expressed interest in [directly] investing in Iran’s insurance market and holding training courses for insurance directors and experts in Iran.
Munich Re halted business activities in Iran in 2010. The decision was expected to impact reinsurer's premium volume of around €10 million [in Iran]. It stopped reinsurance for ships carrying Iranian oil exports on July 1, 2012.
Last November, the Central Insurance company of Iran said the firm has given a significant offer for covering a variety of risk in Iran’s post-sanction insurance market.
No details have been released since then.
Back in May, the German reinsurer and the Iranian Insurance Syndicate held a joint training seminar for insurance experts and company directors in Tehran, aiming to improve Iranian insurers’ technical knowledge, especially in property insurance category.
Iran is in active talks with insurers to provide cover in a market valued at $9 billion overall last year and potentially double that in the next decade.
Western companies need insurance in order to resume business with Iran. Shipping and trade credit insurance, which remove the risk of non-payment for goods, are the first types of insurance being offered.
Lloyd's of London, the British insurance giant has announced plans to send international insurance marketing experts to Iran, to study the potential in the country's free trade zones, said the company’s chief executive, Inga Beale on Friday.
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