10 July 2025
In 2024, the Global Asia Insurance Partnership (GAIP) convened its inaugural GAIP Summit, with the support of the Insurance Development Forum. The summit was dedicated to addressing Asia's widening protection gaps. Over two days of insightful dialogues and intensive panel discussions, policymakers, regulators, industry leaders, and academic experts openly explored the complexities of these gaps, articulating the multifaceted challenges that leave millions vulnerable. Regulatory fragmentation, inadequate data infrastructure, insufficient capacity among local authorities and insurers, and the separation of risk mitigation efforts from financial protection mechanisms emerged as critical considerations requiring coordinated action.
Participants collectively identified priorities necessary to address these protection gaps systematically. These priorities include harmonising regulatory frameworks across Asia to facilitate cross-border risk financing, establishing shared open-access data platforms to enhance risk quantification, developing and scaling blended finance structures to support risk reduction, and systematically building the technical capacity of regulators, insurers, and stakeholders.
As we approach GAIP Summit 2025, it is perhaps time for us to reflect on how GAIP has transitioned from facilitating dialogue to catalysing actionable initiatives aligned with these priorities. Under its Policy Think Tank pillar, GAIP published two policy papers—”Catalysing Resilience and Well-Being” and “Turning Intentions into Resilient Outcomes”—establishing an integrated, iterative framework for diagnosing protection gaps, mapping essential stakeholders, developing coherent solution strategies, prioritizing interventions, and creating effective governance structures for continuous improvement.
GAIP's Living Lab initiatives have also progressed significantly, notably through the development of the Asia Risk Platform, which is currently underway. This platform will house a risk database and a risk-assessment tool that enables users to gain a comprehensive view of risk exposures with a forward-looking lens across various risk types, as well as a knowledge repository capturing proven solutions. GAIP's Living Lab research into a geohierarchical deep-learning approach to modelling inland flood risk was also a step towards enabling enhanced risk quantification, especially in light of the challenges posed by data availability and climate change.
GAIP has further looked to advance the insurance sector's role in blended finance, with its Blended Finance Playbook initiative in collaboration with Convergence, a blended finance network. These efforts are complemented by the forthcoming Parametric Study, set to examine the conditions required—regulatory, market-based, and operational—to scale parametric insurance region-wide.
Capacity building remains a central focus, exemplified by GAIP's Risk Resilience Capacity-Building Programme, delivered in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank Institute. This structured initiative empowers public sector stakeholders through targeted modules, reinforcing essential skills and knowledge in addressing protection gaps in a holistic, integrated manner.
Across all initiatives and programs, GAIP consistently engages diverse stakeholders—including insurers, governments, academic institutions, and others—fostering a robust, collaborative ecosystem geared toward tangible progress.
As we approach the GAIP Summit 2025, these collective actions underscore a clear evolution—from initiating essential dialogues at the GAIP Summit 2024 to driving strategic, measurable actions that strengthen Asia's resilience. The upcoming GAIP Summit 2025, therefore, marks a decisive moment, shifting the narrative definitively “from dialogues to action: collaborating towards risk resilience.” It represents not only a continuation but a deepening of shared commitments, setting the stage for enhanced regional collaboration, concrete results, and lasting impact in bridging Asia's protection gaps.