Takaful Malaysia Eyes Strategic Partnership In Indonesia

Bernama : Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd is looking for a strategic partnership, possibly with Indonesian banks, its group managing director Datuk Hassan Kamil said Wednesday.

"Yes, it's possible but there is no candidate at the moment," he said when asked on the possibility of its parent company, Bank Islam Malaysia Holdings Bhd, having talks with Indonesian banks to take a stake in Takaful Malaysia.

"The partner must have some value-added potential for Takaful Malaysia. What we will be looking at are distribution capability and cross-selling opportunities," he told reporters after the company's annual general meeting here.

Takaful Malaysia, which has 56 percent stake in P.T. Syarikat Takaful Indonesia, intends to further strengthen its presence in Indonesia by having a strategic partner.

Another 26.39 percent stake in the company is held by the Islamic Development Bank and the rest by Permodalan Nasional Madani and Bank Muamalat Indonesia, among others.

"That (partner) is one of the options but we want to first inject the capital worth RM21 million into our Indonesian operations," Hassan said.

He said the company hoped to partner with a reputable Syariah-compliant bank in Indonesia.

The company also wants to enhance its existing 35-branch network and increase its agency base in Indonesia, according to Hassan.

This move, he said, will help the company to sustain Takaful Indonesia's 30 to 40 percent growth recorded in the previous financial year.

For the Malaysian operations, the company hoped that the launch of its first series of Wakalah-based products will lift its market share to at least 50 percent in the financial year ending June 30, 2009, Hassan said.

He said the company's market share was estimated at 40 percent currently.

The company last week launched four new products, comprising Takaful My Sinar, Takaful My Impian, Takaful My Medicare and Takaful My Siswa.

On the company's expansion plan in West Asia, Hassan said that discussions with the Abu Dhabi group of companies were still ongoing.

Yesterday, Takaful Malaysia reported that it had called off talks with Islamic Arab Insurance Company over the sale of a stake in Takaful Malaysia to the latter.