Takaful reconstitutes Board of Directors and appoints management team

Mr. Khalid Ali Al Bustani has been elected to chair the Board. He is Assistant Under-Secretary for Revenue and Budget at the Ministry of Finance and Industry of the United Arab Emirates and the current Chairman of Arab Insurance Group (Arig), which controls 54.5 % of Takaful Re. Mr Bustani is also board member of the Arab Bank for Investment and Foreign Trade (ARBIFT).

Mr. Sultan Ahmed Al Gaith, the Director General of the General Pension and Social Security Authority of the United Arab Emirates has been elected to the position of Vice Chairman. He is also a board member of Arab Insurance Group (Arig), EMAAR Property, Dubai Islamic Bank and the Emirates Cooperative Society. Mr. Al Gaith will also become the Chairman of the Executive Committee of Takaful Re.

Mr. Chakib Abouzaid has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Abouzaid is a graduate in economics of the Grenoble University, France and brings with him over 15 years of experience in the reinsurance industry with a special focus on Islamic reinsurance. He joined Takaful Re after a successful assignment as Regional General Manager for Middle East & Gulf for Best Re.

Mr. Mohammed El-Dishish will assume the responsibilities of Chief Financial Officer. Mr El-Dishish is a Certified Public Accountant from the American Institute of CPA's and brings with him over 30 years of professional experience in the financial services sector. Since 1998, Mr. El-Dishish has been with Arab Insurance Group (Arig), where he headed the Operations Management unit.

Mr. Khalid Ali Al Bustani, Chairman, Takaful Re said,

'We are pleased to have these distinguished professionals to lead Takaful Re and are confident that the company will benefit from the immense business expertise of these professionals and will be a leading player in emerging market sector of Retakaful'.

Several major regional financial institutions have teamed up with Arig in promoting Takaful Re. These include the inter-governmental Saudi based Islamic Development Bank, UAE based Dubai Investments, Emirates Industrial Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, and Emirates Funds (of the Emirates Bank Group), as well as Qatar Islamic Insurance Company and Wethaq Takaful Insurance Company of Kuwait.

Takaful Re is the first significantly capitalised Islamic Reinsurance company with an authorised capital of $500 million and an issued and paid up capital of $125 million - thus ensuring the commitment of meaningful capacity to the takaful markets to attract and lead business and secure a financial strength rating commensurate with the expectations of its future clients. Takaful Re is dedicated to offer Reinsurance products and services to the Takaful insurance companies, all over the world.