MANAMA: Insurance leaders, experts and regulators to discuss existing challenges facing the insurance industry and the development of new innovative solutions and frameworks to effectively capitalise on emerging opportunities in the growing regional insurance market during the 13th Annual Middle East Insurance Forum, MEIF 2017.
The 13th Annual Middle East Insurance Forum (MEIF 2017), the region’s largest and longest running industry event, announced that its flagship forum will take place on the 20th and 21st February 2017 at the Gulf Hotel, Kingdom of Bahrain.
““The 13th Middle East Insurance Forum will once again convene to deliberate and promote the way forward for the region’s Insurance and Takaful markets. Home to a vast number of Middle East and global insurers and as a leading financial hub, the Kingdom of Bahrain is delighted to host this landmark annual forum. We look forward to welcoming top industry leaders from across the Middle East and their international counterparts,” Abdul Rahman Al Baker, Executive Director of Financial Institutions Supervision at the Central Bank of Bahrain, said.
Held under the patronage of the Central Bank of Bahrain, MEIF is the region’s leading insurance platform and has played a key role for more than a decade in helping to shape and drive industry advancement. It has also long served as a compass for determining the future direction of the regional insurance industry and as a guide to support insurance leaders and executives in planning their growth and development strategies.
The Forum partners with and attracts participation from the region’s largest insurance and reinsurance players making it the foremost gathering for industry engagement. This year’s event will focus on and explore “Current Challenges and their Implications on the Regional Insurance Industry – The Road Ahead” with the expected attendance of more than 400 global and regional Insurance and Takaful leaders and experts. This includes high level dignitaries, central bank representatives, economists, thought leaders, researchers and academics. Also, supporting the development of the event through knowledge sharing and technical cooperation is The Bahrain Insurance Association (BIA), the industry body in the Kingdom tasked with helping to promote the growth and development of the local and regional insurance industry and an advocate on behalf of local insurers.
MEIF 2017 will look closely at obstacles impeding more rapid growth and strategies for further expansion and industry advancement. In doing so, keynote speakers and panelists will address a range of topics at the two-day event including industry consolidation through mergers and acquisitions; the Role of Insurance companies in the current reform in Health Services; financial technology development in the Insurance Industry; challenges facing the Takaful industry; the implication of the introduction of VAT in the regional markets and environmental challenges in the Insurance sector.
Other highlights of the event will be a ceremony honouring the “Best Insurance Company in the MENA Region”. In partnership with the Central Bank of Bahrain, the forum will recognize extraordinary achievements in the industry by awarding the prestigious prize to the most outstanding regional insurer for the past year.
