Modern technological tools must be integrated into the insurance business in Arab markets, and operators have to exert greater efforts to deal with the challenges that emerge with the use of technology, said the General Arab Insurance Federation (GAIF) secretary-general Chakib Abouzaid.
Speaking at the opening on 13 May of AqabaConf 2025 held in Aqaba in Jordan, Mr Abouzaid said that digital transformation is no longer a luxury. It is a practical and commercial necessity, he stressed.
“Now we are at the turning point of artificial intelligence, which presents us with new challenges, perhaps the most important of which is the need for new jobs and to handle the widening gap between countries and companies engaged in the digital revolution and those that are hesitant.”
Citing a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), he said that AI will contribute 26% to China's economy by 2030, compared to 2% in the Middle East. He added, “This poses an existential question: Where do we stand in this digital revolution?
“While AI tools will create new job opportunities, according to the same report, they will also lead to the disappearance of nearly 300m jobs and the lives of 14% of employees worldwide will be changed. Therefore, it has become imperative for us to retrain the workforce in our companies.”
Mr Abouzaid noted that to improve productivity and meet the challenges of technology and manage its usage, the Arab insurance industry must consider that "technology, especially AI, complements the human element that creates it”.
Organised by the Jordan Insurance Federation (JIF) with the support of GAIF, this year’s AqabaConf, which ended yesterday, was held with the theme 'Bridging the Insurance Future with Technology'. Over 1,300 delegates from 33 countries attended the conference. The AqabaConf series was launched in 2008 as a biennial event attracting guests from various regional and international markets.