Opportunities in the Middle East will be a big theme at this year’s International Insurance Society (IIS) seminar, which will be held in Amman, Jordan between June 7-10, according to Patrick Kenny, president and chief executive of the IIS.
Economic growth in the Middle East may have slowed down somewhat as a result of the financial crisis, but Kenny is confident that the region’s insurance market will continue to grow.
“The financial crisis for the insurance industry has not been as severe in the Middle East as it has been in other parts of the world,” Kenny told Reactions.
“Obviously the financial crisis in general has affected the Middle East. Fewer cars will be bought; fewer buildings will be built this year versus last year or the year before. But it is a temporary slowing. What is happening there in terms of economic growth will continue, and as a result you will see a lot of development and the industry will respond to that.”
There are a number of panels and special addresses this year with a Middle Eastern focus. On Tuesday (June 9) morning, Ian Dilks, global insurance leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Arif Naqvi, CEO of Abraaj Capital, will discuss the economic prospects of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
And in the afternoon Abdul Khalik Raouf Khalil, secretary general of the General Arab Insurance Federation in Egypt, will give his views on the future of the Arab insurance industry.
“You will hear about issues surrounding emerging markets; you will hear issues surrounding opportunities that exist in the Middle East,” says Kenny.
He adds that the Middle Eastern insurance market has already made big steps forward in the last ten to 15 years. “If you go back ten or 15 years you would have said that the Middle Eastern insurance market was almost totally related to energy,” says Kenny. “But with all the economic development in property, there is now a much greater market for property insurance and auto insurance, and there is the whole concept of takaful, which affects people’s saving habits.”
He adds: “There is a general overall emphasis in the region on the development of financial services.”
Another big talking point at the conference will be the effects of the financial crisis on different segments of the insurance industry. “Everybody talks about the financial crisis as if it’s the same for everybody and it really isn’t,” says Kenny.
“Some of the issues like capital and liquidity are the same but if you divide it up between the life industry, the non-life industry and the reinsurance industry, the issues are a little bit different.”
On Monday (June 8), an executive panel will talk about the insurance industry’s response to the financial crisis. Then on Wednesday (June 10) there will be a panel about life securitisation.
But Kenny says some of the most important discussions will go on behind the scenes: “One of the purposes of the conference is to get people together and talk, and there will be some fairly prominent CEOs of life companies there. I think you will see a lot of what I call off-line discussions related to this.”
These informal discussions will not be limited to the life market. One of the main purposes of the conference is to give delegates the chance to exchange ideas with people from around the world. “The issues that affect the industry are the same worldwide, they are just in different stages of development in each country,” says Kenny. “So if people get together and talk about it they are going to be able to benefit from other people’s experiences and the opportunities and challenges they have faced.”