Matthew Hill: Azerbaijan approaching int'l insurance standards

Azerbaijan is consistently approaching international standards in the insurance sector, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), Matthew Hill, said at the XI Azerbaijan International Insurance Forum, Report informs.

According to him, Azerbaijan has launched a program to enhance professionalism in the financial services sector, and in particular, in insurance.

"This program is now gaining momentum. For example, the priorities of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan - such as expanding participation, strengthening trust, and transitioning the market to a more modern regulatory system - are fully aligned with CII's own ambitions. I was particularly impressed by the importance placed on public trust, as well as the goal of bringing the trust index to 80%," Hill noted.

The head of CII emphasized that, according to most long-term economic indicators, humanity today is wealthier than ever: "Average income per capita has risen dramatically. As productivity has grown, global output has continuously increased. Rapid growth beyond the economic power centers of the 20th century has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. Historically, if around 80% of the population lived in extreme poverty in 1800, today that share is negligibly small on a global scale. From 1990 to 2019, global inequality between countries decreased. This is partly due to the fact that poorer countries developed faster than wealthy ones. That is precisely why economists often say that we have moved from a world divided into rich and poor countries to a world with a more cohesive global middle class."