BY SACHIN KUMAR
DOHA: Qatar Islamic Insurance Company (QIIC) is aiming to achieve 10-15 percent growth in insurance premium in the current year despite challenging economic environment. The insurer is pinning its hope on Qatar’s economic growth that which will be driven by huge government spending.
“We expect 10-15 percent growth in insurance premium in current year,” Ali Ibrahim Al AbdulGhani (pictured), Chief Executive Officer, QIIC told The Peninsula on the sidelines of company’s AGM held recently.
QIIC offers a wide range of insurance products and services in accordance with Sharia’h.
“The fluctuation in oil prices definitely affects all regional economies and Qatar is not immune to this fluctuation but our government has put enough reserves to tackle this problem,” said Al AbdulGhani. “For Qatar, the authorities have already announced that economic growth is expected to be eight percent in the current year. So there is no problem for Qatar at least.”
Property insurance, marine insurance, general insurance and Takaful insurance will be the main drivers for its growth in premium.
“Our focus will be on property insurance, marine insurance, general insurance and Takaful insurance. Car and health insurance is a difficult area,” said Al AbdulGhani. “The market is difficult but we will try our best to improve our services,” he added.
The company had succeeded in exceeding in business and operational goals and targets in 2014 by generating gross premium of QR235.99m and aggregate net profit of QR90.57m.
In Qatar, motor insurance brings a lot of premium but it does not bring growth and for most of the insurers it is loss. “In Qatar Islamic we tried to control the loss in Motor insurance and we have succeeded,” he said.
There are currently 22 insurance companies operating in Qatar, according to the Qatar Central Bank’s 2012 annual report. The market is divided into two segments: those operating within the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) and those outside its jurisdiction. The latter represent the bulk of the industry in terms of gross written premiums. Despite challenging economic environment, Qatar’s insurance sector is expected to witness healthy growth.
“Qatar’s ambitious development strategy and infrastructure projects in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup are key drivers of expected growth, but even without these the market can expect organic expansion. In recent years the country has posted the fastest population growth in the GCC,” said Oxford Business Group in its report on Qatar. “Moreover, 85-90 percent of Qataris fall into the 15-64-year-old demographic, above the 70-80 percent GCC average, which means a naturally growing market.”
The Peninsula
