Myanmar will launch an insurance policy covering livestock insurance for the first time in 30 years. “We estimate livestock insurance will be launched by year-end,” Daw Sandar Oo, managing director of Myanma Insurance, told The Myanmar Times.

State-owned Myanma Insurance, the Department of Livestock Breeding and Veterinary under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MOALI), Singapore-based InfoCorp Technologies and Myanmar’s RGK+Z&A Group are cooperating to launch the livestock insurance pilot project, which will be supported by the bank.

The insurance application process will involve registration of the livestock using InfoCorp Technologies’ tamper-proof livestock identification tagging technology. This involves inserting a digital chip into each animal, said U Zeya Mon, CEO of RGK+Z&A Group.

The registration fee per head of cattle is estimated to be around US$2. There is also a premium rate of about 1pc of value of the livestock.

Livestock registration using this technology is the important step in the provision of livestock insurance. Myanma Insurance had actually provided livestock insurance in 1983. However, it was forced to stop providing the policy as it did not have a procedure or the right technology to identify animals that are insured and those that are not. The policy was restarted in May using new technology.

By insuring their cattle and livestock, breeders will stand a better chance of receiving loans from the bank to grow their herd. This is because they will be able to use the animals as collateral.

Currently, Myanma Insurance and the Myanma Agriculture Development Bank for the latter to provide loans to insured cattle, Daw Sander Oo, said.

Currently, Myanma Insurance is drafting the livestock insurance policy, including how to provide compensation in the event of death or disease. The policy premiums have yet to be announced.

According to official data, there is currently a total of 11.5 million head of livestock in Myanmar.

“We are interested in this plan as it will help us get access to loans,” said U Cho Min Aung, vice chair of a breeders’ association in Magway region.

By The Myanmar Times(Published: 16/08/2018)

https://www.mmtimes.com/news/livestock-insurance-be-launched-year-end.html

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