GAIF 27th General Conference announces panelists & sponsors

The biennial event will be held under the patronage of H.H. the Prime Minister, Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, from 26-28 February 2008 in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The event is officially hosted by the Bahrain Insurance Association with the support of the Central Bank of Bahrain. The Economic Development Board of Bahrain, represented by Bahrain Financial Services Development, is the event's Strategic Partner. The conference is also sponsored at varying levels by renowned international and regional insurance and reinsurance organizations as well as financial institutions.

Speaking at a press conference, Mr. Sameer Al Wazzan, Chairman of the GAIF Steering Committee and Mr. Ashraf Bseisu Chairman of the Bahrain Insurance Association (BIA), revealed the event's speakers, adding,

"We would urge all professionals in the Arab insurance market to exploit this opportunity and benefit from the profound insight our expert line-up of panelists will bring to the GAIF conference."

Further, Mr. Al Wazzan commented, "The interactive nature of the debates will offer an interdisciplinary perspective on challenges facing Arab insurance markets, while also creating an essentially integrated vision among participants with regards to proposed solutions to overcoming these obstacles."

Mr. Abdul Rahman Al Baker, Executive Director - Financial Institutions Supervision at the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), a prime supporter of the event, confirmed that the Arab insurance industry is in an ideal position to compete internationally, pointing out that, "During 2006, the MENA insurance market premiums grow by around 16% to $21.40bn. This still represents less than 0.6% of the global insurance premiums; thereby, underlying a huge potential for additional growth."

Speaking earlier on behalf of Bahrain's Economic Development Board (EDB) - a strategic partner in the Conference - Dr. Zakaria Hijris, Deputy Chief Executive, underlined Bahrain's heritage as the region's financial centre, adding, "Bahrain is also a major regional insurance and reinsurance centre, and was the first country in the Gulf market to introduce captive insurance. This position is continually reinforced by figures signaling the upwards growth trend, and projects such as the new Bahrain International Insurance Centre."

In tandem with the conference theme "Towards A more Integrated Arab Insurance Market", the first debate, in Arabic, will be entitled "Are regional underwriting pools the way forward for integrating Arab insurance markets?", and will be moderated by Mr. Joseph Zakhour, Joseph Zakhour & Co (Beirut). Panelists for the first debate include: Mr. Tayseer Treky, Deputy General Manager, Arab Reinsurance Company (Beirut); Mr. Bassam Chilmeran, General Manager, Al Wathba National Insurance (Abu Dhabi); Mr. Salah El-Kadiri, Managing Director, Guy Carpenter (London); Mr. Gamal Hamza, ex-Chairman, Egypt Re (Cairo); Dr. Abdul Zahra Ali, General Manager, National General Insurance (Dubai); and Mr. Georges Zeineh, Chief Executive, General Reinsurance Services (Beirut).

The second day's debate, in English, will be entitled "Proliferation of new insurance companies across the Arab markets is inhibiting consolidation through mergers & acquisitions", and will be moderated by Mr. George Kabban, Chief Executive Officer, UIB (Dubai). Panelists include: Mr. Andreas Molck-Ude, Chief Executive, Middle East & Africa, Munich Re (Munich); Mr. Fady Shammas, Chief Executive Officer, Arabia Insurance (Beirut); Mr. Latif AlRayes, Chairman & CEO, AON Middle East (Bahrain); Mr. Charles Bouloux, President, Middle East, Mediterranean & South Asia, AIG MEMSA (Dubai); Mr. Mousa Al-Rubaian, President, dar Mousa (Riyadh); and Mr. Farid Chedid, Managing Director, Chedid Re (Beirut).

GAIF Steering Committee member in charge of "Themes & Topics", Mr. Yassir Albaharna, referred to the revamped and more interactive format of the upcoming conference saying, "We are striving to deliver a more creative and intellectually challenging content by replacing lectures with more stimulating debates; thereby, encouraging more active delegate participation. To that end, we have also introduced an essay competition to foster greater scholarly research and provoke innovative solutions to common industry issues. I am confident that the insurance markets' key players will find the content to be more appealing than before."

Mr. Ashraf Bseisu, Chairman of the BIA also urged all local insurance firms to show their support by participating in the conference, emphasizing that,

"The success of this event largely depends on the collaborative effort of the insurance industry and of course the Government's support. We are mobilizing all resources to ensure that this conference will be memorable and will truly reflect the image of Bahrain and its people."

The essay competition is open to individuals working full-time for any GAIF member company or associate. Submitted papers (in Arabic) should be original research material, not previously published elsewhere in one of the following topics:

"Applicability of the European Union (EU) insurance regulations to the Arab markets and the modifications needed for adapting them"
or "Main factors likely to influence the Arab insurance markets in the coming years".

Closing date for entries is 30 November, 2007 and further details may be obtained from the Conference website.

The event's lead Sponsor is the Arab Insurance Group (Arig). Its CEO, Mr. Yassir Albaharna, commented, "We are extremely delighted to take a leading role in sponsoring this major event in our home country. Arig has always been a keen developer of regional insurance markets in terms of products, services and expertise. We have all the determination to make this forthcoming conference a most successful one."

Gold sponsors include Bahrain National Insurance, AON Middle East, AXA Insurance, Bahrain Institute of Banking & Finance (BIBF) and Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC); Takaful International, Crescent Global Insurance Services and Ernst & Young are Silver Sponsors; and Solidarity is a Bronze sponsor.

Other sponsors include Nasco Karaoglan, Medgulf, Trust International, Arab War Risks Insurance Syndicate (AWRIS), Bahrain Kuwait Insurance Company and Doha Insurance Company.

Media sponsors are: Al Bayan, Al Morakeb Al Inmai, Insure, Investors Magazine, Middle East Insurance Review and POLICY Magazine.

ZAIN is sponsoring the designated wi-max zone, and Gulf Air is the official carrier of the conference.