JEDDAH, 1 December 2005 — Health Minister Dr. Hamad Al-Manie yesterday called for the quick implementation of the mandatory cooperative health insurance scheme for expatriates, saying any delay would cost the state millions of riyals.

Al-Manie also ordered a high-level working committee composed of officials from the ministries of health and labor and other related organizations to remove obstacles facing insurance companies with Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) and other departments.

He said the scheme would become mandatory for expatriates working in companies with 100 or more employees from next January.

“The scheme will be implemented on Saudis from January 2007,” the minister said, adding that it would cover all Saudis by the beginning of 2008.

The implementation of the scheme on both Saudis and expatriates will boost the Kingdom’s insurance market. Dr. Abdalelah Saaty, chairman of the insurance council at Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said he expected the market would triple from SR8 billion to SR24 billion within the next 10 years.

At present insurance contributes only 0.7 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and Saaty hopes it would reach 3.7 percent in five years once the companies are licensed and more businesses are insured.

The mandatory insurance scheme on expatriates is being implemented in phases. In the first phase it was applied on companies having 500 workers and more. In the second phase, which starts on January 2006, it will be applied on small and medium companies having 100 workers or more. “By the end of 2006, it will cover all expatriate workers including domestic helps and drivers,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted Al-Manie as saying.

The health minister was speaking to reporters after meeting executives of a number of insurance companies at Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Insurance firms said they were facing obstacles from government departments to complete licensing procedures.

About 30 foreign insurance companies have so far applied for license. But SAMA, the insurance regulator, has not yet licensed any one of them. At present, National Company for Cooperative Insurance (NCCI) is the only licensed insurance company in the Kingdom.

Last month, the Cooperative Health Insurance Council (CHIC) gave preliminary approval to 14 companies to provide health insurance service.