Qatar insurance system lauded

Delegates of the recently held 49th annual International Association of Engineering Insurers (IMIA) Conference lauded Qatar for the stability of its economy and the insurance system it has set.The conference conducted its meetings after discussing topics such as infrastructure, modelling of natural catastrophes and economical fluctuation of the global markets.The event opened on October 3 under the patronage of and in the presence of HE the Governor of Qatar Central Bank Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud al-Thani, with the participation of more than 110 delegates and guests from over 30 countries.The conference was held for the first time in Qatar and GCC by the IMIA in collaboration with Qatar General Insurance & Reinsurance Company under the patronage of Qatar Central Bank. Oscar Treceno, chairman of IMIA and head of engineering, Helvetia Insurance, said: “Qatar has already achieved remarkable progress and is in the process of undertaking major projects, including its rail system and a number of world-class sports stadiums. To successfully complete these will require engineering risks to be carefully managed; this conference demonstrates the interest being paid to this area by the local insurance industry.”The delegates praised Qatar for the stability of its economy and the insurance system, considering it as a “positive exception” due to the investment in developments as stated in Qatar National Vision 2030.The experts discussed the current situation of real estate projects in light of the difficult financing solutions. Although the entire world is suffering from recession and investment in infrastructure is reducing, some countries have often compensated for a slowdown of the private economy by investing in large infrastructure; this is more difficult now as other states are struggling to finance it, according to a statement.In the cyber risk field, the experts said there was exposure to such risk in the industrial operating system and would surely become more significant. IMIA’s working group paper on this subject gave some guidance and solutions to the problem. The approach recommended for underwriters is “like it (price it), leave it (exclude it), change it (limit it)”.The conference heard about the modelling of natural catastrophes in engineering insurance, which have the potential to disrupt the worldwide market and which are becoming more frequent due to climate change. As a conclusion, the delegates agreed on new topics to be tackled at the annual conference in 2017.