Taiwan will seek to build itself into an Asia-Pacific financial center by easing various financial regulations, Vice Premier Chiu Cheng-hsiung said at an international insurance conference that opened in Taipei Monday.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the 44th Annual Conference of the International Insurance Society (IIS) , Chiu said that Executive Yuan will go all out to relax laws and regulations relating to trade and economic exchanges between Taiwan and China.

According to reports reaching the Daily Observer, Taiwan and Singapore are the only two Asian countries to have hosted an IIS annual meeting, Chiu noted, adding that the insurance industry is playing an increasingly important role in Taiwan.

Taiwan's revenues from insurance premiums amounted to US$6.6 billion last year, up 18.5 percent year-on-year, Chiu said. According to statistics released by Swiss Re, the world's largest reinsurer, the nation's insurance penetration rate stood at 7.5 percent, which was the third-highest level in the world.

In addition, the combined assets of Taiwan's insurance sector have reached around US$300 billion, accounting for 22 percent of the financial industry's total assets, he went on.

More than 400 insurance industry, research institution and insurance supervisory agency representatives from 36 countries are attending the 2008 IIS conference, which focuses on five issues --insurance supervision, consumer protection, natural disasters, talent cultivation and the aging population.

This is the second time Taiwan has hosted the IIS annual conference since 1974.