Muscat: Leading industry players, thought leaders, and key regulators in the international takaful (Islamic insurance) industry will take part in the eighth annual World Takaful Conference (WTC 2013), which will be held on April 15 and 16, 2013, at the Dusit Thani, Dubai.

The two-day event, held in conjunction with the third annual Middle East Islamic Finance and Investment Conference (MEIFIC 2013), will feature high-profile discussions that will focus on "sustaining growth and boosting profitability" in the global takaful industry.

Announcing the launch of the eighth annual edition of the World Takaful Conference, CEO David McLean pointed out that "the global takaful industry continued to show double-digit growth last year, with recent reports indicating an exciting, if slightly slowing, average growth rate of around 19 per cent for global takaful contributions. 

"As the industry becomes ever more competitive, along with ongoing weakness in the global economic environment, more and more operators are concerned about how they can overcome the challenge of maintaining the exciting growth rate of the past few years, while also becoming increasingly focused on the imperative of boosting profitability for their core business."

McLean said, "With current global takaful contributions of less than one per cent of the total insurance premium universe, there is no doubt that the future of the global takaful industry remains bright, and recent research further highlights that takaful contributions will continue to grow faster than the rate of premium growth in the global conventional insurance industry."

McLean further noted that "the leading takaful operators are now rapidly positioning themselves to capitalise on the new growth opportunities emerging from high-potential segments such as Family Takaful, manage the challenges of an increasingly competitive global takaful market, drive operational efficiencies in their business, and successfully shift to sound underwriting profitability."