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Mongolia has made significant progress in developing and strengthening its financial services and regulation in the last 2 decades, particularly as it transitioned to a democratic, free market economy and in the aftermath of several banking crises in the 1990s. However, the challenge of providing adequate and equitable financial services to its population of just under 3 million remains, especially those who are most vulnerable to financial risks and economic shocks.

To mitigate these risks, there needs to be a sound portfolio of affordable insurance products and services made easily available to the public. Access to microinsurance can help vulnerable households maintain a sense of financial confidence in the face of illnesses, injuries, or even death of family members, loss of property or natural catastrophes. The effect of these risks on their limited financial resources could prove to be fatal.

Mongolia’s microinsurance industry is still in its nascent stage, with pilot projects initiated only in recent years. To assess the opportunities and challenges for microinsurance, Mongolia’s Financial Regulatory Commission collaborated with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Access to Insurance Initiative of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, and the German International Cooperation to undertake a diagnostic analysis of the insurance industry in general, and microinsurance, in particular. The aim is to stimulate local stakeholder process to adopt strategies to further develop and expand the microinsurance market in Mongolia. Simply put, the intent is to provide people with better access to insurance products and services, especially those who are poor and underserved.

This study builds on prior initiatives of various donor organizations that contributed research, capacity building, awareness and lessons learned from pilot projects in Mongolia. Key impediments to the development of the microinsurance industry were identified, i.e., from the lack of widespread, cost-effective distribution channels to the inadequate technical capacity of the financial regulator and policy makers of the insurance industry as a whole. This report also presents recommended strategies to address these constraints.

It is ADB’s sincere hope that the publication of this report will help regulators, policy makers, and other industry stakeholders better understand and effectively respond to the challenges in the development of microinsurance in Mongolia, and in other developing member countries at a similar development stage. For its part, the ADB stands ready to continue supporting the Government of Mongolia in its efforts to provide an enabling environment for its financial sector to thrive, and to make available various affordable financial products and services to its people.

Ayumi Konishi

Director General

East Asia Department

Asian Development Bank