Willis Group Holdings (NYSE:WSH), the global insurance broker, today announces that it will be strengthening its leading position in China by opening an office in Macau. The new operation will cater to the region’s booming leisure and entertainment industry which is thriving after a US $12 billion injection into hotel and casino construction.
With an impressive GDP growth rate of 6.7% in 2005, Macau, dubbed the next Las Vegas, hosted over 18 million tourists last year, a 27% increase on 2003. The unprecedented growth in commerce has resulted in a simultaneous increase in the insurance market’s needs that Willis’ Macau office will be ideally positioned to service.
Willis will offer clients access to the Group’s vast global resources through its unique Client Advocacy model which provides excellent, on-the-ground local service. The new office will be headed up by Branch Director Sandra Ho – the former Chief Business Officer at Luen Fung Hang, Macau’s third largest insurance company.
Fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin and English, Sandra was educated in the US and has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a Risk Management and Insurance major. She is also currently studying towards an MBA.
Commenting on the new operation, Roger Wilkinson, Managing Director of Willis Asia said, “By opening an office in Macau we are being receptive to our clients’ needs in light of the fact that the city is becoming an economic hub. In support of this commitment, we have brought Sandra on board as Branch Director as she has extensive local experience and in-depth knowledge of Macau’s employee benefits, property and casualty markets.”
Willis is making great strides in China and the launch of the Macau operation follows Willis recently winning significant new construction and marine cargo business with the Fujian Refining and Ethylene Project (FREP) – China’s largest world-class foreign refining and petrochemicals development. Willis was also recently appointed global risk management and insurance consultant for the China Development Bank. (emeconomy)
