1. Could you begin by introducing FijiCare Insurance and describing its role within Fiji's insurance sector? How does the company contribute to protecting individuals, businesses and the wider economy?
FijiCare Insurance has been in business for more than 30 years, approaching 35 years. We were the first insurance company to be listed on the South Pacific Stock Exchange, in 2000, and today we have the largest shareholder base, with more than 13,000 shareholders.
FijiCare has traditionally been known as a medical insurer, because medical insurance was our initial focus and remains a core part of our business. However, our scope is much greater than medical insurance. We also offer term life, motor insurance, public liability, personal accident, mortgage protection and travel insurance. We also have a unique micro-insurance product.
We have not yet entered property insurance, including cyclone-related coverage, although this is an area we are looking into. Our portfolio has historically been heavily weighted towards medical insurance.
Insurance penetration in Fiji remains relatively low. On average, only around 15% of the total population would be insured. Medical insurance is particularly important because it has a direct impact on people's lives and their health.
We have seen significant growth in medical insurance from the corporate sector, where companies increasingly include medical coverage as part of employee remuneration packages. This has helped us reach people who might otherwise not have been able to afford medical insurance individually.
As an insurer, we play an important role in managing risk within the economy. There is still much more that can be done to educate people about the benefits of insurance and help them understand that they can insure their risks and have the assurance that, when there is a rainy day, we will be there for them.
Because we insure more than 150,000 people, we also have a substantial amount of data about claims and health trends. This allows us to understand patterns in the health of the country, including medical conditions, different age groups and emerging needs.
That data has also highlighted the challenges facing Fiji's healthcare system. There is significant demand for medical facilities, while the public sector is under considerable strain. One particularly critical gap is tertiary care.
Many patients have to be medically evacuated overseas, often to India, Australia or New Zealand, for cardiac, cancer and orthopedic treatment. We were sending approximately 30 to 50 patients a month overseas.
We therefore saw an opportunity and a responsibility to contribute to the economy through the private sector. We have a collaboration with MIOT International in India, through which we are bringing medical facilities and specialists to Fiji.
We currently operate a chain of medical centres, primarily offering outpatient services, while also bringing specialists from India on a monthly basis. This provides continuity of care for patients who may have travelled overseas for treatment but then have no access to the same specialists when they return to Fiji.
We are also in the final stages of constructing a specialist centre in Nasole, between the Suva-Nasori corridor. Approximately one-third of Fiji's population is located in that corridor. The centre will offer cardiac services, interventional radiology, GP services and other specialties.
In Nadi, we are also bringing specialists to a facility with a full operating theatre, focusing on ENT, ophthalmology and dentistry.
The need is significant. Fiji currently does not have a single ENT specialist. Patients who cannot afford to travel overseas therefore have very limited options.
Our objective is to bring these services closer to home. We do not want to be a company that simply creates insurance products. Insurance is our core business, but we are also expanding our focus on healthcare and contributing directly to the medical sector of the economy.
2. Insurance is an important foundation for economic resilience. How does FijiCare help individuals and businesses manage financial risks and plan for the future?
Insurance is fundamentally about managing the exposures and risks that people face.
Medical insurance is one important example. There are conditions, such as cancer, for which the appropriate diagnostic and treatment infrastructure is not always available in Fiji. There are no PET-CT machines available locally, for example.
Through insurance, we have been able to send patients overseas for appropriate treatment and, in many cases, help save their lives. The best part of what we do is that we are able to heal people and help them get their lives back through medical insurance.
But that is only one part of our contribution.
Our micro-insurance product was introduced specifically to reach vulnerable and grassroots communities. We developed it as a bundled product costing just $1 per week, or $52 a year, providing up to $10,000 of cover.
The package includes elements such as fire coverage for a dwelling, term life, funeral expenses and personal accident protection.
The total sum insured is modest because the premium is deliberately low, but it allows us to reach people who might otherwise remain uninsured.
The product has had a significant impact. The Fijian Government also came on board by paying the premiums for social welfare recipients. At the time we started, there were around 80,000 social welfare recipients, and we were able to insure that population.
We would see people coming to our offices because they needed money to conduct funerals. Even when the amount paid was not significant, it could make a meaningful difference to families who otherwise could not afford the expense.
That is when you really understand how vulnerable people are and how exposed they can be to things that we might take for granted in more advanced countries.
For us, financial inclusion is about making insurance available not only where it is affordable, but also to people who would ordinarily never have access to insurance.
3. Fiji faces particular risks from cyclones, flooding and other natural disasters. How is FijiCare evolving its products and services to help customers become more financially resilient in the face of climate-related risks?
We participated in a United Nations pilot program on parametric insurance. The program focused on cyclone-related risks, with coverage triggered by parameters such as rainfall and wind reaching certain levels.
It was a two-year pilot, during which we covered approximately two or three events.
Although FijiCare does not currently offer property insurance or direct cyclone coverage, the parametric model provided a way of extending micro-insurance to vulnerable sectors such as farmers.
The program worked well but also revealed challenges, particularly around infrastructure and the reliability of data.
Parametric insurance depends heavily on accurate weather datasets. We found that local weather data was sometimes not reliable enough to determine precisely which communities had been affected.
For example, one side of a village might appear in the data as affected while another side did not, despite the fact that flooding had occurred across the entire village.
We therefore did not proceed beyond the pilot at that stage. However, this remains an area of interest for us.
Before developing such products further, we need better technology, reliable datasets and a carefully considered process to ensure that the people who genuinely suffer losses are properly covered.
When we eventually launch our property insurance business, this is an area we would like to explore further.
4. Adaptive insurance remains an important part of financial inclusion. What can be done to make insurance more accessible and affordable for households and communities across Fiji, including those outside the main urban centres?
Micro-insurance is one good example, but I think two things are particularly important: product innovation and technology.
We really need to move away from conventional ways of doing insurance.
Too often, we continue to offer the same products, using the same underwriting criteria and the same processes for handling claims.
Product innovation needs to go hand in hand with technology. Our tagline is Leading Through Innovation, and we continually look at how we can do things differently.
Innovation is not necessarily just technological. It can also mean changing the way we deliver products and services.
For example, we introduced travel insurance and were the first company to introduce COVID insurance in Fiji.
At the time, some people questioned why we would want to provide COVID insurance. But we saw a clear need. Tourists wanted to return to Fiji, while the Government needed to ensure that the risks associated with visitors potentially contracting COVID-19 were covered.
We developed an online platform allowing tourists to purchase insurance before entering the country. They could upload their travel information, receive their certificate and arrive in Fiji already protected.
We also worked with the Ministry of Health to establish an appropriate process, including isolation arrangements, without imposing a cost on the Fijian Government.
That COVID insurance product became one of our most successful products when we introduced it.
This demonstrates the level of innovation that is required. We need to continuously challenge ourselves, encourage our teams to think outside the box and recognize that different customers have different needs.
With technology now being embraced at such a rapid pace, we need to use it as an opportunity to develop new products and ways of serving customers.
5. Technology is transforming the insurance industry globally. How is FijiCare using digital platforms, data and new technologies to improve customer service, claims processing and overall efficiency?
Insurance has transformed enormously over the past five or six years.
Traditionally, customers would fill in proposal forms, provide background information, undergo assessments, pay their premiums and eventually receive their policy and certificate. The process could take two or three months.
Today, people do not have the time or inclination to visit an office and complete lengthy paperwork. They want to be able to do everything from their phones.
We are therefore heavily focused on digitalization. We were the first insurer in Fiji to introduce a mobile app for our insured members, and we continue to expand our digital capabilities.
We are also looking beyond conventional product-based insurance.
For example, if someone is travelling from Suva to Lautoka, they may perceive a particular risk during that journey. Why should they necessarily have to purchase an annual insurance policy? Why can't we insure a specific event or journey from point A to point B?
Event-based insurance could potentially make insurance more accessible and increase penetration by allowing people to insure individual risks rather than committing to a full annual policy.
But for that to work, the process has to be extremely fast. A customer should be able to go onto a mobile app or browser, select the specific event or journey, pay the premium and receive their certificate almost immediately.
That is what we are working towards.
We also see enormous value in the data we hold. Data is king.
Our medical data provides important insights into the health of the country, and we have shared those insights with the Ministry of Health and the Fijian Government.
We also use data to help corporate clients understand the health of their workforces. For example, we can identify particular age groups experiencing higher levels of hypertension or diabetes and discuss whether employers have appropriate wellness programs in place.
We can also identify emerging health trends. Before the recent flu outbreak was publicly announced, our data was already showing increased flu cases among employees of certain companies.
We could approach a corporate client and say that a significant percentage of its employees had recently visited our GPs with flu symptoms, recommending measures such as masking and vaccination drives.
This can reduce absenteeism and improve productivity.
We also conduct non-communicable disease screenings for corporate clients. Through these programs, we have identified people at risk of major cardiac events before they occurred.
Cancer screening is another important area. Fiji faces significant challenges with late presentation, partly because of stigma and reliance on traditional or herbal remedies.
Patients often only seek treatment at stages three or four, when treatment options are much more limited.
Through screening programs, we have detected breast and cervical cancers at an earlier stage in women who might otherwise not have sought medical attention.
Early intervention helps the workforce, it helps the economy, it helps the country, and ultimately it can save lives.
We have been able to achieve this because of our ability to use technology and analyze our datasets at a granular level, turning information into meaningful interventions.
6. Could Fiji's growing tourism and investment sectors also create opportunities for the insurance industry, particularly in supporting international investors and visitors while strengthening risk-management infrastructure?
Travel insurance and products such as our COVID insurance are already examples of how the sector can support tourism.
But I think insurance can play a much broader role in supporting investment.
We have data showing what is happening in the country, what risks exist, how the local population behaves and what patterns are emerging.
Different insurance providers can provide insight into the resilience of infrastructure, the risks facing farmers and other economic sectors.
Collaboration between different sectors of the economy is extremely important.
That information needs to be communicated to overseas investors so they can understand the opportunities available in Fiji.
Fiji is full of opportunities, but there are information gaps. We do not always have sufficiently reliable datasets available to investors to allow them to invest with confidence.
Insurance can help bridge that gap because we understand where the risks are and what has been done to mitigate them.
We know the problem, and we have the solution too.
There is an Insurance Association of Fiji that has been doing important work, but much more can be done to strengthen these links and communicate the opportunities internationally.
7. As Fiji becomes more connected to international markets, the insurance sector must also evolve to international standards. What opportunities do you see for FijiCare to develop partnerships and strengthen links with international insurers, reinsurers and financial institutions, including in markets such as India?
Reinsurance is already an important part of the insurance industry and is regulated by the Reserve Bank of Fiji.
However, I believe the bigger opportunity is to evolve the insurance market itself by learning from more developed international markets.
One of the key challenges is penetration. In many overseas markets, people would not think twice about purchasing insurance. In some cases, it is mandatory.
Fiji cannot necessarily apply the same approach across every sector and product, but intervention, lobbying and international partnerships can help increase penetration.
If international investors understand that insurance penetration in Fiji is only around 15%, they can immediately see the scale of the opportunity.
There is a huge opportunity to insure the rest of the population.
But again, it should not simply involve bringing traditional insurance models into Fiji. We need to explore new approaches, including event-based insurance and technology-enabled products.
Developed markets have larger populations and larger premium pools, but that does not mean that their models cannot be adapted or tested in Fiji.
There are also opportunities beyond reinsurance.
Our relationship with MIOT International is a good example. They have medical technologies that are not currently available in Fiji.
Interventional radiology, for example, is not currently available locally. It can provide minimally invasive treatment for conditions such as fibroids, potentially replacing more invasive procedures.
International partnerships can therefore bring not only capital, but also technology, expertise and new solutions that can benefit the local economy.
8. Looking ahead, what is your vision for FijiCare over the next five to ten years? Where do you see the greatest opportunities for innovation, growth and strengthening Fiji's overall insurance and financial resilience?
Over the next ten years, we want to increase our footprint within Fiji as well as across the Pacific region.
We want to be at the forefront of the South Pacific insurance sector, while continuing to develop international collaborations.
The medical sector will always remain close to our hearts. It is our core business and something we do not want to move away from.
At the same time, we want to expand into other forms of insurance.
In five to ten years, I would like FijiCare to break the barriers around the perception that insurance is something only a limited number of people can afford or think about.
Insurance should be something that everyone considers accessible and easy to obtain.
Achieving that will require innovation, awareness and strong internal leadership. Our teams need to share the same vision and be motivated to move in that direction.
International collaboration will continue to be important, as will innovation.
Ultimately, we want FijiCare to be a premier insurance company in the South Pacific region.
9. What message would you like to share with Los Angeles Times readers about FijiCare and the broader opportunities within Fiji's insurance sector? Why should international businesses and investors see Fiji as a market with strong, long-term potential?
Fiji presents a world of opportunities, particularly as a developing market.
This is where investors should be looking. People often say that Fiji is a small economy with its share of challenges. I would not say there are problems; I would say there are opportunities.
Every country comes with challenges. If investors can bring capital and expertise to Fiji and leverage the opportunities available, it can be a win-win situation for both Fiji and the investor.
From FijiCare's perspective, international investors should understand that we are at the forefront of the market. We are one of Fiji's leading insurers, and we are here and we are going to stay.
Investors should also recognize insurance companies as potential investing partners. We understand the risks facing the economy, and we have experience developing solutions to address those risks.
We know what the risks are, and we know how to provide solutions for those risks.
That is something investors should take seriously when considering Fiji.
