With ISIS and greater international attention paid to the problems, the region seems more engulfed in greater political violence and tension. Yet it is business as usual despite the lower oil prices being another cause for concern for the GCC with some notional US$300 billion losses. There is resilience in the air still and the call for greater regulatory co-operation and harmony within the region is gaining momentum.
In March, the biggest event on the calendar is the now-firmly entrenched Multaqa Qatar, in its ninth run with some 700 delegates targeted to attend. Everyone is Doha-bound with great expectations. It is a veritable Middle East rendezvous with the bilateral meetings for the ongoing mid-year renewals holding sway. We mark the event with a wrap and a special focus on choosing the right reinsurance partner.
Our Country Profile is on Qatar where the winds of change are gently blowing through with calls for regulators and industry to work together to raise retention and improve market discipline in the face of increasing competition.
The next big thing in March is the advent of Lloyd’s in the region with the official opening of the Dubai office. This again is seen as a positive sign for the region. Everyone is all set with big plans to reap the benefits of the “insurance heart” coming to town to stay.
March is also the month where we salute women in insurance in the Middle East, where women have made great strides breaking into the executive ranks, though not quite yet into senior management and board positions. There are less than five notable exceptions including Ms Lamia Ben Mahmoud, CEO of Tunis Re and a member of the MENA Insurance CEO Club which marks its 5th anniversary this year.
In March, we also salute those professionals who have committed themselves to the cause of raising the awareness of CAT exposures in the region to make insurers more prepared to tackle Nat CAT insurance. Poor response forced a cancellation of our Middle East CAT Conference before the massive snowstorms hit the region in January with some US$100 million economic losses. Believing in the cause, we are carrying a whole range of topics from keeping up with Nat CAT perils in the Middle East to the need for quality data in CAT models and transforming CAT modelling.
In March, we celebrate more of the winners of the Middle East Insurance Industry Awards (MIIA) as we trace their contributions to the industry to ensure that they stand tall in the industry. Wining the Awards is more than just a one-night glory but comes with a duty to boost the image of insurance in society. In that same vein, Cindy Betzina, wife of our Insurance Personality of the Year Fareed Lutfi, returns with resounding call to salute insurance professionals who help ordinary folk deal with the realities of life on a daily basis.
On the Takaful front, the biggest news is that the experts in London have finally got their act together to launch an Islamic Insurance Association. This can only augur well for takaful which is going through a period of soul-searching with calls for re-thinking and reinvention. Our focus is on Qatar’s takaful market which is 20 years in the making and a survey on microtakaful in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim market.
With spring in the air, it is a good time to take stock of the signs in the air and re-strategise to be prepared and to get ahead of the pack. I take this opportunity to wish you all the best in soul searching.
Sivam Subramaniam
Editor-in-Chief, Middle East Insurance Review