Host Organization: Japan Financial Agency

Internship Period: October 11 – December 10, 2019

I had an opportunity to participate in an internship program at Global Financial Partnership Center (GLOPAC), Japanese Financial Services Agency (JFSA) from October to December 2019. The main purpose of the program is to support the development of financial systems and to strengthen the capacity of financial institutions and regulations around the world. Throughout the internship program, I have learnt many things about the insurance sector supervision, regulation, financial institutions and financial system in Japan as well as how other countries, apart from Japan, operate and manage their insurance industries.

During the internship program, I had the chance to participate in a seminar on “improvement of insurance supervision”. During that seminar, fellows from ten participating countries shared their practical work experience and discussed ground-breaking policies that have led to a better insurance sector in their respective countries. Also, knowledgeable professionals from JFSA gave lectures on the financial sector regulation, supervision, and financial literacy, covering historic, current, and future mission and vision of Japanese financial system. In addition to the government financial operations, non-profit associations and private organizations which also serve as the supporting arms to the insurance sector in Japan, shared their supportive role to insurance industry. One more impressive lecture was from ADBI that gave insightful knowledge on financial sector research.

Moreover, I had a chance to interact with and listen to the thoughts and ideas of professional fellows in financial regulatory and the insurance field from ten countries. The knowledge that I acquired during the internship program has not only broadened my knowledge in the insurance sector but has also positively shaped my focus and interest in the insurance sector.

The experience and knowledge I have gained by joining this year’s internship program, and more importantly interacting with GLOPAC, have been phenomenal and are far beyond what I could have learnt by my own efforts. In Myanmar, the insurance sector has just been liberalized and it is yet to pick-up its growth potentials. Therefore, the knowledge I have acquired through this internship program will not only be beneficial to my personal life but also to the insurance sector and the country at large, through my contribution to the sector.

To conclude, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to GLOPAC for allowing me to be an intern at JFSA. Also, I am very grateful to the director of G-cube program, for giving me such a great opportunity to have an internship experience at a leading Japanese financial agency while studying at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS). Special thanks to all the staffs at JFSA and all participants in this Autumn 2019 Internship Program.