본문
Good morning, distinguished guests. I would like to warmly welcome you to the 4th Global Insurance Symposium hosted by the Financial News. I would like to express my gratitude to Hyuk-Se Kwon, governor of the Korea Financial Supervisory Service who spared his precious time to attend and congratulate this symposium. I would also like to thank Woo-cheol Lee, chairman of the Korea Life Insurance Association and Jae-woo Moon, chairman of the General Insurance Association of Korea and other guests from the insurance industry. And most of all, I would also like to give my thanks to those who came from overseas and will be speaking at the two sessions including Ms. Julia Cillikova, chairman of the International Association of Insurance’s Pension Coordination Group; Mr. Michael J. Morissey, president and CEO of the International Insurance Society; professor Karel Van Hulle, head of the European Commission’s directorate general internal market and services and Insurance and Pensions Unit; Mr. Hari Narayan, head of the Indian Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority and Yisheng Guan, associate professor of China’s Central University of Finance and Economics. The Korean insurance industry had little effect from the global economic crisis and there is a strong wind for a change. But the financial instability in the United States and Europe is expected to hit the international financial market and it will be extremely important how to cope with this. So I believe the International Association of Insurance Supervisors’ annual conference meeting which started yesterday in Seoul is more important than ever. It will be the first test whether the global cooperation is working since last year’s G20 Summit in Seoul. This symposium, with IAIS’s pension executives and international insurance supervisors attending, will be a test to review the supervisories and policies. It is important for the Korean insurance authority to decide its policies on the main issues of the industry which is starting operating business overseas and making mid and long-term strategy for retirement plans. So I think under the theme ‘New Market and New Opportunities,’ this symposium will be an opportunity to form a new paradigm of the insurance industry through opening business overseas and a new growth plan. I wish you all to have a great time with great ideas during the symposium. Thank you very much. Seong C. Gweon President and CEO, The Financial News |