Myanmar is to open its insurance sector to foreign investors in the next few years.

Deputy Minister of Finance and Revenue Maung Maung Thein says local companies will be given time to establish themselves before international groups are admitted “around 2015”.

Dr Thein, who is also general manager of the state-owned Myanma Insurance and a former student of the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance, made the comments after the Myanmar Government issued insurance licences to 12 privately owned domestic companies.

Previously, only Myanma Insurance had been trading in the country. In the year to March it had gross written premiums of 24.1 trillion kyat ($26.7 billion).

Despite IAG’s recent Asian expansion, the company says it is not interested in Myanmar.

“IAG has a really clear Asian strategy,” spokesman Andrew Tubb told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “There are six markets we’re interested in and we’re currently in five of those.”

IAG has a presence in Malaysia, Thailand, India, China and Vietnam (see earlier story). It is investigating joint venture opportunities in Indonesia.

In a report last year by Transparency International, Myanmar ranked 180 out of 183 countries for perceived levels of public sector corruption.