Earlier this morning, the EU-ABC met with the ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Singapore to discuss topics such as Infrastructure Finance and Capital Market Development in ASEAN, Innovation in Finance and Disaster Risk Finance.

EU-ABC member companies that attended were Allianz, BMW, Bosch, BT Group, Covestro, DHL, HSBC, ING Bank, Michelin, PMI, Prudential, SAP, SWIFT, Swiss Re, Unilever and EABC Thailand.

Our Chairman Donald Kanak gave a presentation about EU-ASEAN trade and economic development. More trade was encouraged within ASEAN and between ASEAN and its partners, along with increased economic development underpinned by improvements in infrastructure to ease access to markets, and support urbanisation that results from economic development.

The EU-ABC also recommended crafting innovative approaches to infrastructure finance and improvements in capital markets across the region; Moreover, with increased digitalisation, innovation in finance systems is needed to speed up payments and create financial inclusion.

These points can be found elaborated in more depth in the Insurance paper we presented – ‘The Future of Insurance: Driving innovation and sustained growth in ASEAN‘. Part 1 can be found here. Country-specific recommendations from the EU-ABC can be found in Part 2 here.

Our Chairman shared his opinion piece published in the Business Times yesterday – ‘Minding the gaps in ASEAN: Protecting the present and financing the future’. This was an excellent article touching on many issues central to the morning’s discussions and provides a good summary of what the EU-ABC hopes to see being developed in the region. Read the article on Business Times here or in a word document here.

View the rest of the photos at our Facebook here.