The takaful industry needs to strengthen the skills of human resources with requisite expertise in areas like life insurance, risk management and Sharia compliance, said a top Bahrain banking official.

"The industry must focus on enhancing retention by developing long-term incentive schemes and training programmes," Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) executive director of financial institutions supervision Abdul Rahman Al Baker told delegates at the opening session of the Middle East Takaful Forum and exhibition in Bahrain yesterday.

Speaking at the Sharia-compliant insurance event, Al Baker said the availability of a qualified talent pool remained a key area of concern for the takaful industry.

"Regional regulators should encourage the building of a talent base and strive to enhance universities and private training centres to offer degrees and certificates in Islamic finance and takaful to accommodate the needs of students and professionals and to target a wider range of individuals interested in pursuing insurance studies," he noted.

"This will guarantee the necessary supply of highly qualified talented personnel to meet the growing demands of the market," he said.

"As a regulator, the CBB always believes in continual enhancement and improvement of its regulatory infrastructure for the growth and betterment of the industry," he added.

"Currently, we are working on updating and expanding rules on takaful, in order to facilitate and further enhance the growth of the takaful industry," said Al Baker.

"Part of the enhancement to the rules relates to the solvency margin requirements in terms of its calculation and treatment.

"The CBB has been working closely with the takaful licensed entities and their respective Sharia boards to ensure that the rules are in line with the best international standards and adequately protect the interest of all stakeholders.

"Looking ahead, we see great new and untapped potential for the takaful industry, especially in family takaful in the GCC countries which is currently under-penetrated and needs effective distribution channels," Al Baker stated.

"Furthermore, we believe that takaful markets will grow significantly in the coming five years to reach $20 billion by 2017, with the GCC contributing more than 60pc to the global takaful industry," he added.-TradeArabia News Service