The 4th Annual Middle East Insurance Forum opens today

The Conference is being held for the fourth year in Strategic Partnership with the Central Bank of Bahrain, and has become the pre-eminent platform for debate between insurers, re-insurers, brokers, regulators, bankers, consultants and policy-makers on the latest market developments, growth and new product opportunities in the regional Insurance landscape.

Addressing the topic of the 'Changing Insurance Landscape & Assessing Key Global & Regional Trends of Liberalisation, Supervision & Competition', HE Rasheed M. Al Maraj said the region was experiencing vibrant growth and liquidity not seen in over 20 years. Coupled with significant structural reforms currently underway and growing public awareness about the need for insurance, the GCC markets offer significant potential for insurers.

Following the Governor in the keynote plenary session, Hugues de Roquette-Buisson, Managing Director - Africa, Middle East, AGF/Allianz Group examined the impact of four mega trends on the current insurance industry landscape: Changing demographic trends and different movements in mature versus emerging insurance markets; the economic impact of an increasingly globalised world; key environmental and legal trends that are resulting in a rise in non-assessable claims; and the impact of technology trend in the Internet world. Critical success factors as a key response to these mega trends include the need for a global vision for extremely mobile customers; a focus on leading technologies in products, distribution and customer services; the importance of the Brand; and building strategic partnerships.

"Capturing Growth Opportunities: Is the regional market ready for growth & what is the real potential?" was addressed at the next session, in which the session presentation on the "Future Outlook for the Industry" was given by Andre Arrago, Member of the Executive Board, Hannover Re. Arrago noted that economic growth of the GCC countries to be at 8.5% in 2003, 6% in 2006 - with 5% expected growth in 2007, and linked this to key factors that would spur growth in the insurance sector. These included the high level in oil prices, Government spending, Private sector spending, higher than average population growth, and new projects in telecom, power generation and real estate.

The panel moderator Ali Al-Subaihin, Chief Executive Officer, The National Company for Cooperative Insurance (NCCI) led the discussions at this session, which featured additional panelists Yassir Albaharna, Chief Executive Officer, Arab Insurance Group (ARIG), Paul Sterckx, Assitant Vice- President for Financial Lines at AIG MEMSA (Arabian Hub), Giles R. Ward, Regional Director, MENA, ACE Insurance, and Ibrahim Muhanna, Managing Director- Actuary, i.e.Muhanna & Co. (Actuarial Services).

The accompanying Exhibition at the 4th Annual Middle East Insurance Forum was opened by HE Rasheed M. Al Maraj, which showcased market leading insurance companies, banks, re-insurers and industry solution providers.

Sivam Subramaniam, Editor-in-chief of Asia Insurance Review & Middle East Insurance Review moderated the next session on the nature, role, opportunity, challenges and potential benefits of Captive insurance which also featured a client case study and was presented by Youssef Al Kareh, General Manager, Ensurion & Karl Marietta, Chief Financial Officer, Tabreed.

"Market Trends and Financial Product Opportunities" was the title of the next session which had speakers like Shasi Gangadharan, Chubb Speciality Insurance Manager - Asia Pacific, Chubb Insurance Company, Yassir Albaharna, Chief Executive Officer, Arab Insurance Group (ARIG) and Paul Sterckx, Asst. Vice- President, Financial Lines, AIG MEMSA (Arabian Hub). Paul Sterckx said in his presentation that "MENA region is still a "midget" with the current insurance status of about $9 million, as compared to the worldwide markets of Western Europe & North America which stands at $ 1,241billion and $ 1,222 billion respectively. Financial lines products are a tiny portion of the overall premium income."

Abdul Rahman Al Baker, Executive Director - Financial Institutions Supervision of Central Bank of Bahrain & Lubna Humoud, Acting Director -International Organizations and Legislations Department -Insurance Commission of Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan will focus on Assessing the role of regulatory bodies in promoting a strong regional insurance sector, together with lessons from international regulatory initiatives and the additional activities that can be undertaken to further strengthen the regulatory environment. The session was be moderated by Wadih Baroudy, General Manager of MedGulf, ensuring a smooth flow of Q&A from the audience.

Ernst & Young hosted and led the final session of the day, an Interactive workshop on International Accounting Standards based on the International Financial Report Standard 4 (IFRS4). The session was led by Bhavesh Gandhi, Senior Manager, Ernst & Young and the panel had Ashraf Bseisu, General Manager - Finance & Corporate Division of Solidarity, Nagarajan Kannan, DGM Finance & Admin of Arab Insurance Group (ARIG) & Johanne C. Prevost, Adviser, Insurance Supervision of Central Bank of Bahrain, discussing the Overview of international developments in accounting standards and their implications for players in the region, The real needs for Arab insurance companies in terms of accounting standards, when should insurance companies apply these standards and developing an Arab insurance accounting board, and the role of the regulatory authorities.

The Gala Dinner & Awards Ceremony hosted by Bahrain Financial Services Development, will take place tonight at the spectacular Bahrain International Circuit, where delegates will enjoy a high-tech Formula 1 evening of entertainment.

Market-leading international organisations sponsored the 4th Annual Middle East Insurance Forum. These included Platinum partner - AIG MEMSA, Re-Insurance partner - The Arab Insurance Group (ARIG), Takaful Partner - Solidarity, Gold Partner & Workshop Leaders - Ernst & Young, Gold Partner - Medgulf, second day Conference luncheon host - Alico AIG Life, Captive Insurance Partners - Ensurion & Tabreed & Silver Partner & Delegate Bag sponsor - Infrasoft Tech.

The second day's conference proceedings will include debate and discussions on International Trends - Industry Challenges and Opportunities, The Impact of the International Free Trade Agreement on the Middle East Insurance Market, Challenges and Opportunities in the Takaful and Re-Takaful Industry & the MEIF 2007 Closing Summary Debate.