This publication consists of six parts. The first part is intended to provide readers with an overview of the insurance sector from the perspective of developing countries. It considers developing country shares in the global insurance market, regulatory and trade liberalization issues that developing countries are faced with as well as suggestions as to how developing countries can identify areas of competence within the insurance services sector. It includes a paper by UNCTAD staff members Mina Mashayekhi, Elizabeth Tuerk and Deepali Fernandes which sets out ithe importance and role of insurance services, tying it in with regulatory frameworks and as.