Sponsored Statement: 2015 a record-breaking year for the DIFC

Dubai is forging ahead as a growing economic hub for the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region. For the insurance industry, we can look forward to a proliferation of opportunities as insurers write more and more within expanding economic sectors.

At the heart of a growing region, the DIFC is leading the way in providing insurance and reinsurance products.

Throughout MEASA, economic diversification and privatisation is providing further stimulus to the insurance and reinsurance markets.

Along with the sustained expansion of reinsurance products, those insurance lines seeing the strongest growth are the health, property and casualty sectors.

The steady expansion of DIFC’s insurance providers is demonstrated by the Centre’s record-breaking operating figures for 2015, which revealed 309 additional firms incorporated during the year, bringing the total number of active registered companies to 1,445. Of the 19,808 individuals working in the Centre, the DIFC’s insurance sector now employs more than 1,000 staff, an increase of 4% from the overall company staff total in 2014.

Last year also saw the establishment of the DIFC Insurance Association, which is facilitating business engagement with the market to help boost the sector’s continued expansion.

DIFC is actively enhancing the many advantages it offers as a global finance centre to ensure its resident insurers’ success. By doing business at the DIFC, industry leaders can take advantage of a world-class regulatory environment supported by a secure legal framework. The Centre’s insurance ecosystem now hosts 92 international and regional carriers and brokers, independent managing agents, support service companies, and Lloyd’s service companies and cover holders. Of these, regulated insurance companies based in the DIFC account for 25% of the Centre’s regulated firms.

The DIFC is leading the growth of a dynamic insurance and reinsurance market, serving some the world’s most rapidly developing economies. With its significant advantages and strategic location, the Centre will continue to serve as a finance nexus point and is well-set to play an instrumental role in the development of the insurance industry for a vast and rapidly growing region.