The Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) is working to build people's confidence in the insurance sector, its Chairman Mosharraf Hossain said yesterday.

"Though there is some disappointment about the sector, some reforms have been going on."

His comments came at a seminar organised by the Daily Banijjo Protidin in the auditorium of the Economic Reporters' Forum (ERF) in the capital.

"All the people should be brought under the insurance coverage. If this can be done, it would benefit both the people and the insurance companies," he said.

Contribution of the insurance sector to the Bangladesh economy is 0.57 per cent while it is 3.69 per cent in India and 2.36 per cent in Indonesia, the chairman said.

The insurance sector in Bangladesh has failed to grow keeping pace with the economy of the country, he said.

"The sector needs to gain confidence for bringing all under the insurance coverage," said Mizanur Rahman, commissioner of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission.

There is some problems in the sector, but it has huge potential also, said Rahman.

Insurance sector-related people should play an active role to remove the confidence crisis, he added.

In the seminar, Sayedur Rahman, president of Bangladesh Merchant Bankers' Association, AKM Rashed Shahriar, editor of Daily Banijjo Protidin, and Md Kazim Uddin, CEO of National Life Insurance, also spoke.