Procurement Plan – PCRAFI: Furthering Disaster Risk Finance in the Pacific
28 January 2022
PIFS and PCRIC Roll Out Partnership on Disaster Risk Finance
10 February 2022
The legal structure of the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC) has been updated through the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility Act 2021 (PCRIF Act). This update enables the offering of new and unique risk transfer products to its Pacific Island country members. The Board and CEO express their gratitude to the Cook Islands government for its substantial support during this process, which led to PCRIC’s reorganization into a segregated portfolio entity effective 6 December 2021. Special appreciation is extended to Secretary Garth Henderson from the Ministry of Finance and the recent past Chairman of the PCRIF Council of Members for their long-standing efforts.
The Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Foundation (PCRIF) is governed by its Council, which includes representatives from Pacific Island and donor countries. The PCRIF/PCRIC institution serves as a multi-country cooperation mechanism that provides disaster risk finance programs to its Pacific Island members. Operating as a development insurer, PCRIC aims to support and safeguard national and regional development objectives in the Pacific.
The updated 2021 PCRIF Act allows PCRIC to offer expanded disaster risk finance programs in segregated units of activity, each legally and financially distinct. This structure enables PCRIC to provide various insurance and risk financing instruments that were previously unavailable in the region, all backed by specific financing and risk management arrangements.
Rather than establishing a new company subsidiary each time PCRIC launches a new insurance or disaster risk finance program, this segregated entity structure offers a more efficient and effective approach to achieving those goals. PCRIC can now protect its overall financial health while also being agile enough to explore, develop, and accommodate the different risk management and capital bases necessary for extending its offerings to include new insurance programs that address disaster risk financing objectives in Pacific countries.
Regarding the completion of the segregated portfolio initiative, PCRIC’s CEO, Mr. Aholotu Palu, remarked, “This initiative provides PCRIC with incredible flexibility to be even more responsive to the Pacific region’s disaster risk finance needs, particularly in addressing the impacts of climate change and other natural hazards affecting vulnerable islands and populations. We will be reaching out to countries to explore better ways of serving them with expanded and tailored financial instruments.”
For more information, please contact:
ceo@pcric.org or aholotupalu@yahoo.co.uk
