Continue to strive for excellence

Statement from the Honourable Ryan Straughn MP, Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, to mark the 45th anniversary of ICBL.

IWISH TO TAKE this opportunity to congratulate the Insurance Corporation of Barbados Limited (ICBL) on their 45th anniversary of serving Barbadians in the insurance sector.

Over the past four and a half decades, ICBL has built a reputation as an industry leader and continues to offer a wide range of insurance options for Barbadians to secure their future. To strengthen your legacy, I encourage ICBL to enhance and adapt their product offering to meet the expanding needs of their Barbadian client base.

As we work towards ensuring long-term inclusive growth in Barbados, our focus is building strong human capital in order to take advantage of global opportunities. This social investment should be matched with adequate insurance protection, whether it be home, medical, life or investment options, which gives our people the best opportunity to transform Barbados into a world-class society by 2030.

Climate change and bluegreen investments

Undoubtedly climate change is the greatest challenge of our time. In particular, it poses the greatest threat to economies and people of small islands like Barbados. With the increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters globally, insurers must adapt their product offerings to address these challenges.

I therefore encourage ICBL to seek out innovative ways to meet these challenges through investments in renewable energy sources and technologies, which will continue to pay dividends well into the future while being cognisant of the climate change crisis.

Whilst climate change is a challenge, it does offer many opportunities for green and blue investments. Our commitment, therefore, is to build economic and climate resilience across the country by 2030, which is inclusive and reduces the risk exposure for insurers in the long-term.

To achieve this, Government is developing a public asset insurance programme to accompany the climate financing strategy for the implementation of the public sector investment programme

over the next 15 years.

Reinsurance

The importance of the role of reinsurers cannot be understated at this time. It is becoming increasingly common for largescale disasters to put general insurers under extreme strain, particularly in climatevulnerable countries like Barbados where reinsurance rates continue to increase.

It is only through having comprehensive reinsurance that many insurers can sufficiently service their clients’ needs while remaining solvent during natural or manmade disasters on a larger scale. This is why we are building climate resilience through the Roofs-to-Reefs Programme.

Global opportunities

In a similar vein, I take this opportunity to encourage ICBL and other local insurers to seek out investment opportunities further afield to minimise risk and the effects of large shocks to the Barbados economy.

As a people, it is imperative that we adopt a global worldview and ensure our financial decisions are reflective of this.

By diversifying your investment portfolio and seeking out opportunities across the globe, you can continue to deliver the best value for money for Barbadian consumers.

On behalf of the Government and people of Barbados, I wish the board of directors, management, staff, and policyholders of the Insurance Corporation of Barbados Limited a happy 45th anniversary.

Email: insurance@ultimate.bb info@sirwatermgmt.com