Another small island is investing in its insurance industry with Gibraltar launching the Gibraltar Insurance Institute this week.

Gerald Simons, former president of the Bermuda Insurance Institute, spoke at yesterday's institute launch on the British Overseas Territory located on the southernmost tip of Spain.

Mr. Simons, who is president and CEO of the Argus Group, highlighted many of the commonalities of the two OTs including British law, the English language and the strategic importance to Britain.

"Like Gibraltar, we face the challenge of having a small land mass and few natural resources which makes earning a living in a competitive, global market challenging," Mr. Simons said.

Despite challenges, he pointed out that Bermuda has climbed to the third position in major insurance markets by world terms — behind only London and New York. "I once said to the head of one of our international companies that if Bermuda was wiped off the world map, many a CEO or CFO of major companies around the world would not sleep at night due to their insurance programmes being eliminated," Mr. Simons told the Gibraltar Institute.

"He replied, 'Don't worry about the CFOs and the CEOs, think of the homeowners in Long Island, New York or outside of Tokyo who would not be able to buy home insurance because their own insurance companies could not obtain the reinsurance protection that my company provides'."

Mr. Simons attributed much of Bermuda's insurance success to the BII, noting that the organisation, from which he stepped down as president in June, has a 38-year history of providing education and professional development in the industry. Over 500 people have completed the Bermuda Insurance Diploma designed in the 1970s and last year the BII had some 351 people who were involved in courses, 1,144 students registered for exams and 1,123 participated in seminars and workshops.

"The Gibraltar Insurance Institute will make a profound impact on the lives of people in Gibraltar and will result in a more robust insurance industry," he predicted.

Gibraltar has a population just shy of 28,000 on a land mass of 6.8 square kilometres.