Singapore Budget 2016: Easing taxes to create global insurance hub

SINGAPORE has ambitions to be not just a regional insurance hub in Asia but also a global insurance hub. However, we are not there yet, nor are we alone in our aspirations. What can be done to help Singapore to leapfrog ahead?

In a keynote address in November 2013 at the 12th Singapore International Reinsurance Conference, Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, outlined Singapore's vision of being "a global insurance marketplace in the heart of Asia". The vision is for the Singapore insurance industry to have the ability to accept not just regional but global risks by 2020.

Currently, there are two competitors in the race to become the next global insurance marketplace in Asia - Hong Kong and Singapore. Both Hong Kong and Singapore have similar elements in place - fairly liberalised insurance markets, sound regulations, and simple and efficient tax regimes. Both also enjoy strategic geographical locations: Hong Kong with China as hinterland and Singapore as a gateway to South-east Asia and the Asean Economic Community.