Azerbaijan, Baku, July 10 / Trend A.Akhundov /
Azerbaijan began forming a base for developed insurance market, meeting international standards, the executive director of the Azerbaijani Association of Insurers, Azer Aliyev, said in an interview with the Romanian PR-agency Media XPRIMM.
He said insurance agents remain effective channel for sale by companies of their products.
"From the earliest days the insurance market of Azerbaijan has been focused on the corporate sector. Since the early 2000s it became popular to obtain consumer loans from banks, so, insurance companies started to get acquainted with the work with the public. Banks and credit institutions became main distribution channels of products and services. Following the adoption of laws on the compulsory types, in 2010-2011 companies began to actively sell its products through insurance agents. Despite the relative high cost, this channel remains the most effective," Aliyev said.
He said that today in developed countries, insurance companies actively sell their products online.
"In Azerbaijan, this channel is not developed, as there are legal restrictions and constraints on the cultural level. People are not inclined to conclude contracts in electronic form," Aliyev said.
He said Azerbaijan's insurance market is open to new foreign investors and investments.
"In the future we need to increase the sale of compulsory insurance types, thus developing compulsory types, as well as life insurance. In the present context the life insurance market has unlimited potential for growth," Aliyev said.
There are 28 insurance companies and one reinsurance company in Azerbaijan.
Media XPRIMM is a PR agency operating on the insurance and pensions market over 10 years. Markets in Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS are the focus of the company. The main areas of activity: media coverage of the market and the organization of several international events.
Media XPRIMM acted as one of the organizers of the Azerbaijan International Insurance Forum AIIF 2012 on the theme of "New Perspectives in the Caucasus Region", held on July 4-5 in Baku.