News
Mega Projects Spur Mideast Insurance Growth
| March 3, 2010 by Rob Morris
Demand for insurance in the region continues to rise on the back of widespread structural developments.
Huge investment in mega projects throughout the Middle East has spurred growing demand for insurance policies, a leading financial expert has claimed.
While addressing delegates at the inaugural World Space Risk Forum in Dubai on Tuesday, Ahmed Humaid Al Tayer, Governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre, said: “The region’s huge programme of infrastructure spending on energy, water, transportation and petrochemicals is creating mega projects that require insurance and reinsurance services.”
He also said changing attitudes towards risk and structural changes had fed long-term insurance industry growth in the Middle East and North Africa.
Al Tayer said taking state assets private had led to several previously uninsured operations requiring insurance cover. A move by local governments to encourage people to save for retirement by introducing compulsory insurance for non-life risks had also fed the industry’s growth, he added.
His comments came during the World Space Risk Forum, an event that attracts figures from the space industry to discuss risk management and insurance for the sector.
While most insurance-related industries had suffered during the financial crisis, Al Tayer insisted space insurance remained strong and healthy after weathering the storm.
“Demand for satellite communication capacity continues to grow as new TV, radio, internet and mobile telephone services are launched and new earth surveys for pollution, resources and disaster monitoring are implemented,” he added.
