Great Eastern launches Takaful business in Malaysia

Great Eastern offers Islam-compliant insurance products and services to cater 60.4% of Malaysia's population of 28.3mln.

Great Eastern Takaful Sdn. Bhd., a joint venture between I Great Capital Holdings (i-Great), a subsidiary of Great Eastern Holdings Ltd. and Koperasi Angkatan Tentera Bhd., a multipurpose cooperative, has commenced business in Malaysia.

Malaysia-based Great Eastern Takaful offers comprehensive takaful, or Islam-compliant insurance products and services, with the aim to achieve 180 million ringgit (US$57.2 million) in total weighted contributions for its first year.
Takaful market penetration remains relatively low in Malaysia, an untapped market that presents an enormous business opportunity for Great Eastern, said Ai Lian Fang, chairman of Great Eastern Holdings and i-Great, in a statement.

According to the CIA World Fact Book, 60.4% of Malaysia's population of 28.3 million is Muslim.

Fang said the new takaful business is a significant growth engine for Great Eastern Group, a subsidiary of Singapore-based Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Ltd. Malaysia is "the perfect platform" to launch takaful business as the country is a key market for the group, according to Fang.

The new takaful operation will leverage Great Eastern Life Malaysia's existing distribution channel with 17,000 agents, and plans to further enhance its agency infrastructure, said Fang.

View the full story in Trading Markets.