Sustainable growth with profitability is way forward for Takaful industry
dubai — Top leaders in Takaful industry discussed new strategic imperatives for sustainable growth with profitability on the first day of the World Takaful Conference in Dubai on Monday.
They also talked about challenges to the industry and emphasised that regulators’ support is key for the growth. Takaful sector needs new generation of scholars and proper training of Shariah-compliant financial institutions’ staff, they added.
The 9th Annual World Takaful Conference, or WTC 2014, gathered more than 450 senior decision makers from over 200 organisations for discussions that tackled the challenges of improving the competitive performance of Takaful players and focused on identifying and capitalising on the new growth drivers for the global Islamic insurance industry.
The two-day event was inaugurated with a special keynote address by Abdulla Mohammed Al Awar, chief executive officer of the Dubai Islamic Economic Development Centre. In his inaugural address Al Awar discussed the need for an integrated approach to achieve the full potential of the global Takaful industry noting that
Takaful industry has grown significantly as a viable Islamic alternative to conventional insurance Abdulla Mohammed
Al Awar
“the Takaful industry has grown significantly as a viable Islamic alternative to conventional insurance. Though the global Takaful industry has witnessed strong progress, the development of related regulatory and supervisory frameworks has not kept pace and varies substantially between key Takaful markets.”
He also stressed that “in line with Dubai’s determination to become the global capital of the Islamic economy, the Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre is committed to creating an enabling environment to reignite the growth of the Takaful sector, as part of an integrated vision and The World Takaful Conference (WTC) plays a significant role in shaping the global Takaful industry, providing an international platform to discuss new strategies that will unlock the true potential of the sector.”
The inaugural session was immediately followed by a highprofile keynote plenary session featuring Dr Bassel Hindawi, member of the Steering Committee of the Mena Insurance CEO Club, and former Insurance Commissioner Jordan; Zainudin Ishak, chairman of the Malaysian Takaful Association; and Talal Al Zain, chief executive officer of PineBri- dge Investments Middle East; which assessed the future prospects for Takaful and evaluated the success stories which are propelling the industry to the next level. The role that financial and investment companies will play in the development of the global Takaful industry were also further discussed during the plenary session.
A key highlight of the conference was the high-profile CEO and Industry Leaders’ Power Debate session focusing on tackling the major challenges in the Takaful industry. The debate analysed how the Takaful industry is faring in achieving critical mass and scale and how profitable growth can be achieved by balancing competitive pressures with the need for risk based pricing.
The WTC 2014 exhibition, which was held along the sidelines of the conference, showcased the latest products, services and innovations from over 35 international exhibitors.
Mohamed Hussein El Dishish, chief executive officer, Emirates Retakaful Limited (Emirates RE), said: “A major challenge faced by the global Takaful industry is the lack of added value from the Retakaful industry leading to a overrepresentation of conventional reinsurers in the market.”