MUMBAI, June 8: Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has firmed up ambitious plan to become a global player by expanding its international operations in major south Asian, African and Gulf countries.

For starters, the corporation has decided to completely revamp its existing marginal international operations in the UK and Fiji. It has also decided to set up an altogether new `foreign operations' department to be headed by a senior official with the rank of executive director. PS Pritam recently took over as the chief executive of the department.

Speaking to The Financial Express, Pritam said that the presence of 17 million non-resident Indians (NRIs) all over the world provided a major business opportunity for the LIC. He said that the LIC is targeting some of the major south-east Asian markets like Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, the emerging African markets like South Africa and Tanzania, and Gulf countries, including the UAE.

``We would like to grab the opportunities arising out of global-level financial sector reforms in course of time,'' Pritam said, adding that the insurance sector in most of the countries was gradually opening up. Investing in any part of the world is not a problem for the LIC, he says.The corporation can launch its operations both independently or through joint ventures with other international players. Though the basic idea is to target NRIs, some local business has to be undertaken in order to observe the local laws.

LIC's skill and expertise is well recognised at the international level as it has one of the highest claim settlement ratios in the world. ``In our case, while the outstanding is pegged at three per cent, for other international insurance institutions it is almost 11 to 12 per cent,'' he said.

The corporation is currently scouting for an international partner for a joint venture to undertake pension business.

LIC (International) EC, which commenced its operations at Bahrain in 1989, has also been operating in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (with three centres at Riyadh, Jeddah and Alkhobar) through chief agents.It has a 10 per cent stake in Ken-India, located in Kenya, which is managed by General Insurance Corporation.

According to Pritam, LIC's premium income from its foreign operations has almost gone up by five times during last five years.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.