With international experts predicting exciting growth in the regional insurance industry in the near term, the regulatory environment becomes increasingly important as a key enabler of growth. The 4th Annual Middle East Insurance Forum will feature an important Regulatory Roundtable which will stimulate debate and discussion on Strengthening the Supervision Framework in the Insurance Industry on the 8th of May at the Gulf Hotel, Kingdom of Bahrain.
Current estimates place the total size of the Middle East market, across all insurance lines, at $10 billion, while the North American and Western European markets are valued at $1,222 billion and $1,241billion respectively. However current low market penetration rates provide a huge opportunity for exciting growth in the region, with some experts predicting that life products could double and non-life products could grow market size by 30% in the near term.
Abdul Rahman Al Baker, Executive Director - Financial Institutions Supervision of Central Bank of Bahrain & Lubna Humoud, Acting Director -International Organizations and Legislations Department -Insurance Commission of Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan will focus on Assessing the role of regulatory bodies in promoting a strong regional insurance sector, Lessons from international regulatory initiatives & the further initiatives that can be undertaken to further strengthen the regulatory environment. The session will be moderated by Wadih Baroudy, General Manager of MedGulf to ensure a smooth flow of Q&A from the audience.
Now in its 4th year the Middle East Insurance Forum (MEIF 2007) is the region’s largest and most significant platform for the international and regional insurance industry to assess the potential and seize new growth opportunities in the dynamic Middle East insurance market.
FOR THE FIRST TIME, ERNST & YOUNG WILL HOST AND LEAD AN INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP ON INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BASED ON THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORT STANDARD 4 (IFRS4).
The session will be led by Bhavesh Gandhi, Senior Manager, Ernst & Young and the panel will have Ashraf Bseisu, General Manager - Finance & Corporate Division of Solidarity, Nagarajan Kannan, DGM Finance & Admin of Arab Insurance Group (ARIG) & Johanne C. Prevost, Adviser, Insurance Supervision of Central Bank of Bahrain, to discuss the Overview of international developments in accounting standards and their implications for players in the region, The real needs for Arab insurance companies in terms of accounting standards, when should insurance companies apply these standards and developing an Arab insurance accounting board, and the role of the regulatory authorities.
The 4th Annual Middle East Insurance Forum will be moderated by Hisham Ayass, Senior Presenter & Market Analyst at CNBC Arabia. The conference will gather together more than 300 market leaders to chart the key trends and capitalise on new opportunities that will shape the direction of the regional insurance industry.
The conference has attracted tremendous media support from Insure magazine, Asia Insurance Review, Middle East Insurance Review, CNBC Arabia, Forbes Arabiya, IFIS, Khaleej Times, Eurekahedge, Capital, Islamica, Al Bayan, Gulf Financial Insider, Business Life, Investors, Global Risk Regulator, Al Morakeb Al Inmai & Al Ittihad Al Ikissadi.
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