Mr Dennis B Funa, chief of the Philippines Insurance Commission, has been elected as the chairman of Bangkok-based Asian Reinsurance Corporation (Asian Re).

Mr Funa, who was unanimously elected to the position on 28 June for a period of two years, replaces Mr Abdolnaser Hemmati, who departed to serve as governor of the Central Bank of Iran.

Asian Re accepts business from insurers in member states and beyond. At present, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Iran, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand are regular member states of Asian Re. In addition, 19 insurance and reinsurance firms from Asia are associate members of Asian Re, that include companies from Iran, India, Japan, Thailand, UAE and Bangladesh, among others.

Asian Re is an intergovernmental organisation established in May 1979 under the auspices of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP). It commenced operations in 1980 and its areas of operations are Asia, the Middle East and Africa.