PHNOM PENH, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Approximately 100 Cambodian government officials, private sector representatives, insurance operators, development partners met here Tuesday to discuss ways to develop micro-insurance services to protect the poor and the vulnerable in Cambodia.
Ou Bunlong, secretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said at the workshop on micro-insurance and social protection that Cambodia is committed to working closely with insurance operators, private investors and development partners in order to develop the micro-insurance.
“Micro-insurance is an effective instrument to reduce vulnerabilities of the poor, it has gained popularity in countries such as India and the Philippines,” he said.
Cambodia issued a circular on temporary licensing of micro-insurance in June, 2011 in order to boost the development of the country’s nascent insurance industry and to fulfill the needs of low-income people, he said.
The workshop was to explore the connection between micro-insurance in promoting social protection and to discuss various strategic options for deploying micro-insurance services to contribute to the implementation of social protection policy, he said.
The Southeast Asian nation has the population of estimated 14.3 millions. About 26 percent of them have been living below the poverty line, according to the government reports.
Elena Tischenko, the UNDP’s country director, said many countries are now actively considering micro-insurance as an effective market-based strategy to protect poor and vulnerable groups.
“Micro-insurance stands as an effective tool to deepen and expand social protection in Cambodia, enabling the poor and vulnerable to better cope with shocks and stresses,” she said in the workshop.
It was organized by the Ministry of Economy and Finance in collaboration with the Council for Agriculture and Rural Development, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Capital Development Fund.
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