Insurance
From The Report: Brunei Darussalam 2016
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Consisting of both Islamic and conventional insurers, the Sultanate’s insurance sector has held steady in recent times, despite strong external pressures on Brunei Darussalam’s economy. Non-life remains a dynamic segment, with Islamic takaful products making up the bulk of these general insurance premiums. This pattern looks set to continue in the year ahead, too, with the next 12 months also promising to be one of further professionalization of the sector’s distribution channels, in response to increased globalization and liberalization as the ASEAN Economic Community takes hold. The potential future impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement on the sector is also now a subject of debate by industry players. This chapter contains an interview with Osman Jair, Managing Director, Insurans Islam TAIB; and Chairman, Brunei Insurance and Takaful Association (BITA).

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Resilient growth: Low penetration rate offers room for expansion, while takaful is steadily increasing its market share
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Consisting of both Islamic and conventional insurers and insurance products, the Sultanate’s insurance sector has held steady in recent times, despite strong external pressures on Brunei Darussalam’s economy. Non-life remains a dynamic segment, with Islamic takaful products making up the bulk of these general insurance premiums. This pattern looks set to continue in the year ahead, too, with the next 12 months also promising to be one of further professionalisation of the sector’s distribution…

Analysis

Calling Asia Pacific: Efforts to standardise and liberalise the regional insurance market continue
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The year 2016 marks the first year of operation for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), while it is also an important milestone in the creation of another, even larger international trading group, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The Sultanate has been a key supporter of both groupings, as well as a long-time member of another regional organisation, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. This dense mesh of trading groups has implications for many areas of the economy in the Sultanate, with the…

Interview

Raising standards: OBG talks to Osman Jair, Managing Director, Insurans Islam TAIB; and Chairman, Brunei Insurance and Takaful Association (BITA)
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Interview:Osman Jair How have standardisation efforts affected the industry, including for takaful (Islamic insurance)? OSMAN JAIR: One of the primary objectives is to implement equal high-level standards across the ASEAN countries, taking as examples the most modern and sophisticated markets such as Singapore and Malaysia. BITA and the Monetary Authority of Brunei Darussalam (Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam, AMBD) are working together not only to raise standards but also to bring deeper…