Ensuring insurance in Myanmar is a new concept for most

People gather around two vehicles involved in a traffic accident in Yangon in April. According to the government, just 5 per cent of the country's 600,000 drivers have any sort of insurance. Romeo Gacad / AFP

Staff from a private insurance company inspect a vehicle for insurance coverage in Yangon. Romeo Gacad / AFP

Two vehicles sit in the middle of the road after being involved in a collision in Yangon. Romeo Gacad / AFP

A repairman (right) assesses the damage while owners look at their car following a traffic accident in Yangon. Romeo Gacad / AFP

The Myanmar pharmacy shop owner Aye Aye Nge nspects items from her stall in a new commercial building at the Shwe Mingalar market in Yangon. It was only when her pharmacy burned down for the second time that she thought about taking out insurance. Romeo Gacad / AFP

A car owner (right) takes out vehicle insurance from a private insurance company in Yangon. Romeo Gacad / AFP

A car owner (standing) looks on while a private insurance company worker inspects a vehicle for insurance coverage, outside her office in Yangon. Romeo Gacad / AFP

Aye Aye Nge handles a customer transaction from her stall at a new commercial building at the Shwe Mingalar market in Yangon. Insurance is a novelty in impoverished Myanmar where most people either can't afford to buy premiums or don't trust those selling them. Romeo Gacad / AFP

Two car owners (right) purchase vehicle insurance from a private insurance company in Yangon. Romeo Gacad / AFP

A private insurance company worker inspects a vehicle for insurance coverage outside the company's office in Yangon. Romeo Gacad / AFP

According to the Oxford Business Group, for most of the last half century Myanmar’s insurance sector was closed and monopolised, but it is now opening up to both domestic and international competition.

The transformation has been rapid and across the board.

However, for motor and premesis insurance there is still along way to go, as residents either cannot afford premiums of do not trust those selling cover. According to the goverment, only about 5 per cent of drivers have any insurance at all.

A dozen domestic private insurers have been formed since 2013, while a raft of foreign companies have opened representative offices in the country in that time. Three international insurers have even been allowed to conduct business domestically, although they are limited to the Thilawa Special Economic Zone.

The market remains imbalanced and highly controlled, with state-owned Myanma Insurance the dominant player, says Oxford Business Group.

True competition is not yet allowed, and foreign firms are being kept at a distance. But the first, crucial steps have been taken, and conditions are right for rapid development, it says.

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