World Takaful Report 2008 launched at 3rd Annual World Takaful Conference

The conference was held in strategic partnership with Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and underlined the conference as the platform for informed debate between insurers, re-insurers, brokers, regulators, bankers, consultants and policy makers in the global Takaful landscape.

The first session focused on identifying growth opportunities for Takaful in international markets and was led by Mohammed Muqeem, CEO of HSBC Amanah Takaful (Malaysia).

Other presentations in this session were by Dr. Saleh J. Malaikah, Vice Chairman & CEO, SALAMA Islamic Arab Insurance Company (SALAMA) & Chairman, Rusd Investment Bank; Chakib Abouzaid CEO of Takaful Re Limited and Alun Williams, Consultant, British Islamic Insurance Holdings whose presentation was titled Launching Takaful in the UK: Countdown to Launch.

Mapping the Next Generation of Takaful Solutions: Leveraging Product Innovation as a Growth Engine was the next topic discussed in the second session which aimed to established if Takaful requires more than product innovations and the challenges and opportunities in the regional approach to Takaful solutions. Speakers during this session included Parvaiz Siddiq, General Manager SALAMA; Ashraf Adnan Bseisu, Deputy CEO Solidarity Group; Oussama A. Kaissi, General Manager of Abu Dhabi National Takaful Company (ADNTC); and Bernhard Schluep, CEO of t'azur-regional Takaful Company.

A major highlight for the event was the launch of Ernst & Young's World Takaful Report 2008 which was introduced by Sameer Abdi, Partner and Head of Islamic Financial Services Group, Ernst & Young. The report offered an analysis into the key trends shaping the industry. Mr Sohail Jaffer, Partner in International Business Development International (IBDI) introduced the session.

Pervez Ahmad Rizvi CFO of HSBC Amanah led an interactive debate on the Challenges & Opportunities of BancTakaful with the focus being on leveraging Bancassurance as a key growth channel. Specialists who contributed during this session included Oussama Kaissi; Sohail Jaffer, Partner, International Business Development International; Dawood Yousef Taylor ,General Manager of Takaful Ta'awuni Division Bank Al Jazira; and V.A Tommy, Deputy General Manager of Al Rajhi Insurance Co. Ltd.

Another assessment in one of the sessions was on the prospect for Re-Takaful market to outgrow conventional insurance led by Chakib Abouzaid, CEO of Takaful Re Limited and Yassir Albaharna, CEO of Arab Insurance Group (ARIG).

The first day of the conference closed at a high note with the Sharia and Business Open Forum looking at the prospects of enabling consistency and innovation for the Takaful Industry. Shaikan Nizam Yaguby, a leading Sharia scholar and Dr. Aznan Hasan, Assistant Professor of International Islamic University and Shari advisor to Council Bank Negara (Malaysia) led the presentation.