Many CPEC projects to be insured by NICL: Commerce Minister

Karachi: Federal Minister for Commerce and Investment Syed Naveed Qamar has said that many China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects will be insured locally by Pakistan’s National Insurance Company Limited (NICL).

The minister visited the NICL to review its operational and financial matters.

The Minister was briefed by NICL Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Khalid Hameed on the company’s operations, initiatives on its policy, restructuring and revenue generation sides besides various projects in pipeline.

Speaking to the journalists after the meeting, Qamar remarked that many new projects, also under CPEC, were coming to his company for insurance through the NICL.

He mentioned that it was mandatory for Chinese Companies to re-insure their CPEC projects locally. The Minister directed NICL’s CEO to appoint Ad-hoc Auditors at least till the constitution of the board of Directors was done.

Federal Minister for Commerce and Investment Syed Naveed Qamar appreciated the management’s efforts and commitment bringing very encouraging results, and offered all possible support on behalf of his ministry.

He said NICL was engaged in two categories of insurance—-direct insurance and re-insure.

In addition to long list of insurance classes, the company was working on proving medical insurance cover.

He informed that the company had Pakistani Rs 52 billion investment portfolios, however the company would have to operate within its limited capacity.

The company was prepared to enter partnership with private sector in certain areas of insurance, he added.

“We have adopted all safe means to protect our investments made in different modes,” he underlined.

Federal Commerce Secretary Sualeh Ahmed Farooqi advised the NICL management to look at public sector projects to assess what business could the company get from. “You should also work on Gwadar Port and its affiliated projects,” he emphasized.

NICL’s CEO presented comparison of his organisation with other insurance companies operating in the country.

Khalid Hameed, who took over as CEO in May last year, informed that NICL had witnessed significant growth in its revenue and profits which would further increase in the coming days.