Dubai, 20th January 2016: 6th Annual Middle East and Africa Summit commenced today morning at Mövenpick Hotel Jumeirah Beach, Dubai – UAE. The conference gathered prominent industry experts from leading insurance and financial organizations in the region to discuss, analyze and brainstorm the challenges and opportunities for the insurance sector.

The conference was inaugurated by the keynote address titled “New age of Insurance: the challenges and opportunities ahead” by Fareed Lutfi, Secretary General - Emirates Insurance Association. This was followed by a panel discussion on enhancing Middle East's insurance sector. The panel was joined by CEOs, Directors and other senior professionals from SABB Takaful, Dubai Health Authority, Dubai Financial Services Authority, Iran Insurance Company and Standard & Poor's Rating Services.

One of the key highlights for the day was the CEO Takaful panel focusing on the current state of affairs. This was joined by CEOs from Al Madina Takaful, Tokio Marine Middle East, EmiratesRe and Legal & General Gulf and Legal & General Gulf Takaful. Speaking about how the latest regulations have affected the Saudi insurance sector, Adrian Flowers, CEO at SABB Takaful said “There is no need for anything radical in the regulatory environment now; it is just a matter of consolidating and refining things for the long run.”

Ajmal Bhatty, CEO at Tokio Marine Middle East engaged the audience with a presentation on growth and expansion of Takaful. “The insurance industry needs to collaborate more and more with all its stakeholders within its value chain and find effective ways to improve its product delivery and service to its customer.”, said Bhatty in an interview prior to the conference. Other Sessions of the day included presentations, case studies and round table discussions by experts from RAK Insurance, Dubai Islamic Insurance & Reinsurance Company PSC (AMAN), Munich Re, RSA Insurance, Takaful Oman Insurance SAOG and Pak-Qatar Takaful Group.

Kevin Willis, Director - Financial Institution Rating Services at Standard & Poor, engaged the audience with a presentation titled “The added-value role of insurance regulations.” The conference was sponsored by Standard and Poor's Rating Services as the Bronze Sponsor and Emerald Africa as the Networking Partner.

Tomorrow, the second day of the conference, will feature several more presentations, panel discussion and round table discussion by senior experts from Arab Misr Insurance Group, Iran Insurance Company, SEIB Insurance & Reinsurance Company, ACR Retakaful M.E.A (B.S.C), Avon Insurance and Reinsurance Brokers LLC and Taavon Insurance Company among other organizations.

The day will also highlight a CEO panel discussion focusing on challenges, new avenues and future for the Middle East and Africa's insurance sector. This panel will be joined by CEOs from National General Insurance Company (PSC), National Life & General Insurance Company SAOC, Goodwill World and Arya Insurance Brokers.

This conference has been organized by Fleming.. Fleming Group recently re-branded it's existing brands under a single name – Fleming.. The new brand is an integration of Fleming Gulf, Fleming Europe, American Leaders and Kakushin. With the re-branding, the company aims to integrate it's effort to connect businesses worldwide with the best of knowledge, connections and opportunities, characterized by a new tagline - Critical Business Connections.

The conference covers all the major challenges, issues and trends for the region's insurance industry and provides a platform for the delegates to interact and learn from industry experts.