RIYADH, 27 May 2008 — Saudi Arabia’s growing insurance sector is faced with the shortage of skilled manpower, says an insurance executive.
Speaking to newsmen at the launch of a new branch of Saudi IAIC Cooperative Insurance Company (SALAMA) in Riyadh yesterday, Ali Al-Ghamdi, head of the company’s sales department, said insurance is a lucrative industry but Saudi Arabia lacks enough qualified people to work in insurance companies.
There are 16 licensed companies in the Kingdom and only six are currently operating including SALAMA and Tawuniya. “By the end of 2009 there will be 30 insurance companies in the Kingdom and its time that the problems faced by the industry are resolved,” Al-Ghamdhi said, pointing out that his company has a staff of 350 personnel in all its 10 branches and 56 percent of them are Saudis. “We do not get visas to recruit foreign manpower, therefore, we have to hire them locally from other existing companies on higher salaries,” Al-Ghamdhi said.
He also said that lack of awareness about insurance is another major problem in the Kingdom. “Even if it is mandatory, some do come to know about auto insurance only when they go to renew their car registration at the traffic department,” Al-Ghamdhi said, adding that his company has deployed a special team to propagate the values of the various insurances schemes available in the Kingdom among the people. SALAMA’s General Manager, Khalid Barboud, said the new branch will enable the company to come closer to its customers, and will give the leading Takaful solutions provider the opportunity to fully apply its marketing strategy in the Central Region. “It will serve both individual and institutional customers, who will be part of our extensive global network,” Barboud said.
SALAMA has six direct Takaful companies providing solutions to customers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Senegal, Algeria and Jordan. SALAMA plans to expand in the near future to all the GCC states, Southeast Asia and eventually to Europe, in order to offer innovative Shariah compliant solutions.
