Fifteen industry heavyweights took centre stage at the 5th Middle East Insurance Industry Awards (MIIA) gala dinner held in Dubai last night, beating more than 300 entries from across the MENA region to emerge victorious.
RAK Insurance clinched the inaugural Digital Initiative of the Year award for its commitment to enhancing its digital services to provide the best customer experience. Health at Hand fought off stiff competition to bring home the Innovation of the Year award – a hotly contested category – for its leading telehealth app which gives consumers access to the care they need without stepping into a clinic.
For the third year in a row, NEXtCARE, a member of Allianz Worldwide Partners, won the TPA of the Year award in recognition of its ability to provide innovative and cost-effective healthcare solutions to its clients in the MENA region.
The big winner of the night was Orient Insurance – sweeping up both the Life Insurance Company of the Year award for the third time and its first Health Insurance Company of the Year award – another popular category.
Gulf Insurance Group (GIG) board member and group CEO Khaled Saoud Al Hasan claimed the coveted Personality of the Year title. An industry veteran, Mr Al Hasan is well-regarded among his peers and recognised for his dynamic leadership of the company for over four decades.
“This year, in line with the world going all tech and disrupted, we have introduced a new category to recognise the insurer making the most effort to embrace digital initiatives. The most hotly contested category is in innovation, bearing testimony to the fact that the Middle East is just as open to change as any other market in the world,” said Mr Sivam Subramaniam, editor-in-chief of Middle East Insurance Review and organiser of the awards.
“The judges spent much time and effort discussing the quality of the finalists. Some choices were easy, others were tough and there were some touch-and-go cases, too,” he said. “I urge the winners to go all out to celebrate their victory and add depth to the market. Stand tall so that you lend prestige to the awards and boost the industry to loftier ideals.”