Aksam – Türkiye is the right country to invest in for global insurance companies, according to the head of Sompo Japan’s Turkish unit. The major Japanese insurer, which made its entry into emerging Türkiye in 2011 via the acquisition of local insurance company Fiba Sigorta, is enjoying above average growth in a booming market.
“Our performance in the past three years shows that investing in Türkiye was the right decision. The Turkish insurance market is poised to grow significantly as it is backed by a growing economy and favorable demographics”, Sompo Japan Sigorta CEO Shinobu Arimoto said as he expressed his views on the industry.
“Things went according to plan right from the start for Sompo Japan in Türkiye. There is great potential in Türkiye’s insurance sector for global companies”, he noted, adding that an expanding economy and a young population were the essentials that multinationals seek when investing in a new market. “Operating in a fast-growing market like Türkiye is very valuable experience”, Arimoto said.
Sompo Japan Sigorta grew 36.8 percent in the non-life category in 2012 when the sector average stood at 18.2 percent. The company’s strong growth continued on to the next year as well, as it reached 23.3 percent when compared to industry average of 21.7 percent.
Türkiye presents a huge market for global insurance companies with only a limited portion of its population of about 75 million having coverage. The annual figures announced by the Insurance Association of Türkiye (TSB) revealed that insurers in Türkiye produced a premium total of TRY 24.2 billion (approx. USD 11 billion) last year, up 22 percent when compared to the TRY 19.8 billion generated in 2012.