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Enoch Yiu

East Asia Aetna Insurance Group has been granted a licence to establish a life insurance company in Macau and plans to start operations early next year.

 The insurer - a 50-50 joint venture between Bank of East Asia and US-based Aetna Insurance - sees the move as a further stepping stone to the mainland market.

 Chief financial officer Augustus Yuen Moon-hing said the Macau operation would allow East Asia Aetna to strengthen its position in the Greater China region.

 'It is an important strategic development for us to expand in Macau as it will become part of the mainland after the handover,' he said.

 The 400-year-old Portuguese enclave reverts to mainland sovereignty on December 20.

 'The planned Macau office will help us to develop our business in southern China in future,' Mr Yuen said.

 'We expect the mainland will open up more cities to foreign insurers after it enters the World Trade Organisation.'  East Asia Aetna has about 3,000 insurance agents, putting it among the top five life insurers in Hong Kong.

 Mr Yuen said the company planned to invest about $50 million in the Macau operation.

 'Macau has experienced rapid growth in its economic and commercial sectors,' he said.

 'This has led to a rise in living standards which creates an earnest need for insurance protection.'   He said only 20 per cent of the Macau population had purchased life insurance policies, substantially lower than the 55 per cent in Hong Kong.

 The percentage is also much lower than that of advanced insurance markets such as the US and Japan, where more than 90 per cent of the population have life cover.

 'The low penetration rate of life insurance in Macau provides a lot of business opportunities for insurers,' Mr Yuen said.

 At present, only a few insurance companies have licences to operate life businesses in Macau.

 The main players are American International Assurance, AXA China Region and Manulife. CRC Protective Life received a licence in June.

 Mr Yuen said the small number of players made it easier to compete.

 In the mainland, East Asia Aetna parent Aetna Insurance has a joint-venture life insurer in Shanghai, and has three representative offices, in Guangzhou, Beijing and Shenzhen.

 Mr Yuen said the Shanghai joint venture had 600 agents, which would be expanded to 1,000 by the end of the year.

INSURANCE 



East Asia Aetna gets Macau life insurance nod