I.2. I.4.I Inhibidores de peptidasas serínicas
1.2.2.2. Cantidad de enzimas proteolíticas en los vegetales
first half of this year has increased by 28 percent, from SR 474 million in 2007, to SR 605 million in 2008. He pointed out that compensation rates vary from period to period, and that the increase in compensation during the first half of this year will not necessarily be achieved during the subsequent period.
Recently, some regional economists have asked local companies to increase market competitiveness through mergers and acquisitions, and to consider the question of a radical remedy for the financial solvency of insurance companies by increasing the minimum capital of such companies, according to Al Sharq newspaper.
Economists have argued that the Gulf region needs to establish a proportionally significant company that specializes in the field of reinsurance, as insurance companies in GCC countries are characterized by their close association with the global insurance market. This solution, economists say, can not be achieved only by the presence of foreign insurance companies in the domestic market. Instead, it requires the external flow of large reinsurance premiums that currently go to international companies outside the region.
Returning to the British Financial Services Center report, that document says that the United States and the United Kingdom alone hold a 42 percent share of the global market, despite the fact that those two countries represent only about seven percent of the total world population. The emerging markets, on the contrary, represent more than 85 percent of the world’s population but companies from those countries account for just seven percent of the global insurance market.
According to the same report, the United States has maintained over the past decade its control of 30 percent of the global insurance market, while Japan’s share declined from 25 percent to 10 percent. The United Kingdom’s share, meanwhile, rose from 7 percent to 11 percent. In October 2008, the Fitch credit rating agency reduced its expectation concerning the levels of growth for the global insurance companies from stable to negative.
The report also notes that life insurance premiums have increased by 6.12 percent in the developed economies, which constitute the bulk of the global insurance industry. The report concludes that the life insurance sector is indeed the dominant sector in the global insurance markets, as it accounts for about 58 percent of the insurance industry as a whole – a percentage that amounts to US$1.4 trillion – with expectations for annual growth rates by 2012 to range from 16 percent to 20 percent.
The report notes that life insurance sales have a long way to go before they fully capture the GCC market. Despite high GDP levels, penetration of life insurance in the UAE, for example, is low, at about 30 percent, with expectations to reach 50 percent by 2012. This figure is similar to the rate seen in many other countries in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, he report says that real estate insurance rates have actually declined in the first four months of 2009. Vehicle insurance, which is considered the foundation of the insurance industry and a key source of income in the GCC countries, has also witnessed a dramatic decline in sales. The overall performance of the insurance companies from different sectors showed a growth of 20 percent and 30 percent in the first quarter of this year.
The Center concludes in its report that although the insurance industry is vulnerable to the negative repercussions
of the credit crisis, in terms of assets, investment, and insurance coverage, companies in this sector are in a better position than banks, especially with regard to liquidity. Nevertheless, the insurance sector is linked to the turmoil in global financial markets in the last quarter of 2008, albeit indirectly.
Approximately 15 percent to 20 percent of the sector’s revenue is from investment income in the financial markets, and thus the credit crisis has limited or stopped the flow of income to the insurance sector, a fact that as a whole will make insurance companies more stringent with regard to risk management.
As for uniquely regional insurance solutions, a new report by Ernst & Young says the total number of specialized Islamic insurance companies in the Arab world reached 57 firms, with premiums of as much as US$2 billion. The report estimates that the global market for such firms, known as takaful firms, will reach US$7.7 billion in 2012, a more conservative estimate than the preliminary estimates, which were published by the global investment bank HSBC, which anticipated the market to expand to US$14 billion by 2010.
The Ernst & Young report says that despite ongoing challenges, the long-term outlook on fundamentals remains strong. Positive factors include shifting demographics and increased earnings, as well as a change in social attitudes towards insurance and growing consumption levels.
The takaful industry as a whole has remained largely untapped, according to a GSN report, which also notes that Saudi Arabia remains the largest market for takaful regionally, followed by the UAE, Kuwait, while the markets of Bahrain, Oman and Qatar are almost equal.
Finally, Solidarity, a member of the Ithmaar banking group and one of the largest takaful companies in the world, has received preliminary approval from the Saudi Arabia Monetary Agency (SAMA) to establish Solidarity Saudi Takaful Company, an associate of the Solidarity Group with an authorized and paid-up capital of SR555 million.