“`We have a national expansion strategy, and that’s where we identify India to be a key growth engine for us.Indian market could be also be a hub to serve the region,’’ said Ahmed Al-Jabr, Chief Executive Officer, Saudi Re while addressing the industry players in Mumbai
Mumbai: Saudi Reinsurance Co (Saudi Re) , one of the large reinsurance multinationals based in Saudi Arabia, has launched its India office on Sunday in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), the country’s sole International Finance Services Centre(IFSC).
It has obtained the approvals from Saudi Arabia’s Insurance Authority and India’s International Financial Services Centres Authority(IFSCA), a unified authority, for the development and regulation of financial services and financial institutions in India, to open a branch in the GIFT City-IFSC.
Earlier, the reinsurer has been doing business with India as one of the cross boarder reinsurers (CBRs)from Malaysia’s Labuan International Business and Financial Centre (IBFC ) and currently transacts around $39 million of premium across the segments from the Indian market.
The company has been operating in the Indian market for more than 10 years.
“We now officially announce the setting up of our new branch in the new city. India has been a very important market for us. It is currently our second largest market for us outside Saudi Arbia. It’s a natural evolution for us to be physically present in the Indian market, representing the Saudi market and bringing diversified capacity to the market. We have a national expansion strategy, and that’s where we identify India to be a key growth engine for us,’’ said Ahmed Al-Jabr, Chief Executive Officer, Saudi Re while addressing the industry players in Mumbai.
“We are being present in the Asian market through our Malaysian office. So, having another office in Asia, mainly to serve the Indian market, but potentially it could be also another hub to serve the region. So, why India? India is one of the top largest markets worldwide,’’ elaborated Ahmed Al-Jabr.
“Saudi Re now has the largest capital among the industry players in Saudi, and we are present in more than 40 countries. We identify the Asian market as a key engine of growth potential. India is in the center of this strategy, and that’s why we are very interested to be anchored in India’’ stated Ahmed Al-Jabr.
“And finally, we have about 2.5 million Indian expats working in Saudi. It’s the second market that hosts this number of Indian workers. And I believe we can, with collaboration, contribute to this market’’ he said.
Currently, GIFT City has around 13 international reinsurers , which have already set up their operations and it is expected another 10 more players will receive licenses to operate in the region by March end .
The move follows the Indian government’s unveiling of new regulations for the insurance sector, giving priority to local companies and to international branches established in the GIFT City.
Reinsurers benefit from GIFT City’s attractive package of a 10-year tax holiday, minimal capital requirements, relaxed staffing rules, and streamlined regulatory oversight by the unified IFSCA, allowing them to operate with lower costs and greater flexibility for servicing both Indian and international markets in foreign currency, making it a strategic offshore hub for accessing India’s large insurance potential.