Karachi October 9 2021: The Bank of Punjab (BOP), HBL and TPL Insurance Ltd. have entered into a strategic partnership for the pilot testing of the Area Yield Index Insurance (AYII) product, proposed by Pakistan Agriculture Coalition (PAC) with PULA Advisors as implementation partner & SCOR as global reinsurer.
The signing ceremony was held at HBL and BOP Head Offices simultaneously. The MoU was signed by Kashif Umar Thanvi, Head- Rural Banking – HBL, Asif Riaz, Group Head- Retail & Priority Sectors Lending – BOP and Muhammad Aminuddin, CEO – TPL Insurance Ltd.
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The event was also attended by Muhammad Aurangzeb, President & CEO HBL, Zafar Masud, President & CEO – BOP, Ali Jameel, Group CEO – TPL Corp, Aamir Kureshi, Head – Consumer, Rural and SME Banking and Kazim Saeed, Strategy Advisor – Pakistan Agriculture Coalition along with representatives from the partnering organizations. The representatives of international partners i.e. PULA & SCOR virtually participated in the event.
Under the product, farmers availing crop production loans from HBL and BOP in pilot districts will be provided yield insurance coverage bundled with their loan product. The incremental premium cost for the value-added services for additional cover under AYII will be jointly shared by HBL, BoP and TPL. The product will ensure climate resilience and financial stability through insuring the crop production risks against climatic abnormalities including windstorm, frost, excessive rainfall, heatwave, hail, flood, drought, pest and diseases. It will facilitate the insuring farmers without any pay out limitations or waiting for calamity declaration from Government agencies.
The pilot project will initially focus on wheat and rice crops in four districts i.e. Pakpattan, Gujranwala, Hafizabad and Sheikhupura of the Punjab Province. The crop yield will be insured against a pre-set average benchmark yield on the basis of historical data and the insurance claim will trigger if average farm yield is below 70% of the threshold. The crop yield will be measured through crop cutting experiments carried out by international partners i.e. PULA.
In a joint statement, Muhammad Aurangzeb, President & CEO – HBL, Zafar Masud, President & CEO BOP and Ali Jameel, Group CEO TPL Corp shared, “We are excited to partner on this landmark initiative that has the potential to transform the agricultural landscape of Pakistan by facilitating the farming community through financial coverage of their agricultural produce. This will encourage the farmers to take broader steps by adopting latest farming techniques on the back of flexible and enhanced risk coverage, thereby ensuring financial inclusion and sustainability”.
