HIH enters RI market

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed Australian company HIH Insurance Group has entered the Indonesian insurance market through joint venture company PT Asuransi Hastin FAI.

HIH Insurance Group said here on Friday the joint venture's operation had been approved by the Ministry of Finance.

HIH Insurance Group expected it would become the majority shareholder in the newly established Hastin FAI, a general insurance company offering commercial and individual insurance products, Hastin FAI said in a statement on Friday.

The joint venture company, which is also partly owned by local companies PT Mitra Millennium Utama, PT Megatama Tata Bersama and PT Puri Dana Mandiri, plans to increase its paid-up capital from Rp 15 billion (about US$2 million) to Rp 22 billion in the coming months.

HIH Insurance Group has operations in the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Argentina, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. (bkm)