Doha Insurance CEO Bassam Hussein: Picture: Jayan Orma

By Pratap John/Chief Business Reporter

Qatar Rail’s recent awarding of one of the largest railway-related risk covers ever placed globally to a six-member consortium of national insurance companies shows the capability of the Qatari insurance industry to handle large-scale projects and provide high quality service to clients, said Doha Insurance CEO Bassam Hussein.

“Besides giving us the knowledge and expertise to handle large scale projects, it will also enable us to develop a pool of talented Qatari insurance professionals,” Hussein said in an interview with Gulf Times in Doha.

“Involving in such projects gives Qatari insurance professionals hands-on experience in dealing with large-scale and complex ventures. In a few years, we will be able to build a team of Qatari insurance professionals with competence in aviation, marine, engineering and other disciplines,” Hussein said.

“I thank Qatar Rail and the government for their full support and trust in placing this prestigious project insurance through us. This will significantly benefit the Qatari insurance industry,” the Doha Insurance CEO said.

Last month, Qatar Rail awarded one of the largest-ever “single project tunnelling and rail construction insurance” policies to a consortium of Qatari national insurance companies, led by Qatar Insurance Company (QIC), with additional capacity from international reinsurers and the Qatar Financial Centre-registered insurers.

The other members of the National Insurance Consortium are Qatar General Insurance and Reinsurance Company, Al Khaleej Takaful Group, Doha Insurance Company, Qatar Islamic Insurance Company and Al Koot Insurance and Reinsurance Company.

The 231km Doha Metro forms part of Qatar’s overall railway network. It is to be executed in twin stages with Phase 1 involving 131km and some 48 stations (underground 63km, elevated 48km and at grade 20km).

Phase 2 will see the construction of 100km (underground 37km, elevated 53 and at grade 10km) with some 44 stations.

Doha Insurance, Hussein said was “actively seeking ways” to expand its insurance premium in the Arab world and beyond. “We are looking at different markets including the GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council) region. It is of course a long-term project … and does not happen overnight. Everything will be announced in due course in accordance with the laws of the land,” Hussein said.

But the Doha Insurance CEO said any overseas venture would be only undertaken after due diligence.

“It has to be done sensibly and properly… and we don’t want to get into any risky venture,” Hussein said.

He said Doha Insurance looked for a “better rating” from S&P, which gave the Qatari underwriter ‘BBB+’ last time.

“We looked forward to a better rating in our 2014 evaluation. But it is up to S&P to decide,” Hussein said.

He hoped Doha Insurance’s recent doubling of capital and its current premium base would help it achieve better rating this year.