Bermuda's attendance at this year's Risk & Insurance Managers Society annual conference in San Francisco was a resounding success, according to Premier Jennifer Smith.

As a direct result of the high-profile event Bermuda may have attracted new e-commerce ventures and a string of captives to the Island. On her return from the United States yesterday, the Premier, who led the Bermuda delegation, praised the work of the delegation and said the new booth rejuvenated the Island's image.

And Telecommunications and E-commerce Minister Renee Webb, who also attended the event, said her department had already had serious enquiries from e-businesses wanting to start up on the Island as well as reports from the booth about several dozen enquiries from insurance companies wanting to set up captives.

Ms Smith said:"My second attendance at the RIMS conference, held this year in San Francisco, was marked by the fact that record attendance was recorded.

This was plainly evident at the Bermuda reception -- which filled the elegant Garden Court at the Palace Hotel.

"The Bermuda RIMS delegation can surely consider their presence a resounding success by all accounts. Many delegates who took the time to visit our new booth in the exhibition hall remarked on the rejuvenated image in the form of a very visible Hamilton City Hall. Many of us felt that this rejuvenated image set the stage for Bermuda's presence.'' Ms Smith was joined by Finance Minister Eugene Cox and Ms Webb at a breakfast to promote e-commerce hosted by BIBA last week at the beginning of a high-profile tour of the RIMS conference. After the breakfast the Premier and her ministers faced the world's Press and fended off questions about the "Bermuda Tax'' issue, e-commerce and immigration.

RIMS hailed a huge success by Premier She then toured the booth, met delegates, and went on a walking tour of the exhibition hall. In the evening Bermuda hosted a reception for 300 people at the five star Palace Hotel.

Ms Smith added: "All in all the RIMS conference was a great example of a partnership at work -- as all members of the Bermuda team pulled together to ensure that Bermuda "The insurance laboratory of the world'' was seen as a premier jurisdiction.'' Ms Webb also said she had very positive feedback after the event from other delegates and Bermuda could see more businesses locating here as a direct result of the conference.

"KPMG have come through with some immediate come back -- they represent a few companies who have expressed an interest in Bermuda and are looking at setting up an entity here. This is new business wanting to set up e-commerce business off-shore.'' She added: "I found RIMS very good. I visited the booth and saw what was gong on. Bermuda was very active and very visible. All the feedback I have had so far has been very positive.'' Chairman of the Bermuda RIMS Committee Robin Spencer-Arscott praised the Government delegation for their performance at the conference.

"They raised the profile of Bermuda by their attendance. When they did the walk about -- stopping at all the domiciles and businesses related to Bermuda -- it worked very well. The Premier talked easily to people and was very charming.'' He added that Ms Smith did a very good job of being interviewed by RIMS TV, projecting a good image of the Island.

Mr. Spencer-Arscott said: "The whole event was great. The booth was even better than I had imagined it would be. We had only seen an artist's impression before, and were very pleased with the way it looked. The stocks were a huge success and attracted a lot of attention. All in all the comments we have had have been very positive.'' Chairman of BIBA, Ray Madeiros, said he thought that the event had raised the profile of Bermuda and hopefully attracted a great deal of business.

"It is hard to know exactly how much business you attract. I personally had five or six interesting leads about captives, and maybe altogether there were several dozen during the week.'' He added that the delegation were very pleased that so many representatives from the Government were able to come and singled out the Premier as having done a particularly good job.

"Her interviews went very well and the fact that she was there helped us raise our profile.'' Mr. Madeiros added that a total of 50 Bermuda representatives helped man the booth during the week-long event and several dozen others were there for their companies.

"We have many potential leads now, and we hope that many of them will decide to come and join us in Bermuda.'' A warm welcome; Premier Jennifer Smith was welcomed to the Bermuda booth at RIMS by Robin Spencer-Arscott, Chairman of the Bermuda RIMS Committee and president and chief executive officer of consulting firm RSA Services Ltd.

New Heights: The new improved Bermuda booth at RIMS this year featured a replica of the City Hall tower. The boat on top of the tower was bought in Coopers and shipped to the United States where it was painted and put on top of the replica tower.

Walkabout: The Bermuda delegation went on walkabout at RIMS to see other stalls and meet the exhibitors. Premier Jennifer Smith, Minister of Telecommunications and E-commerce Renee Webb and Minister of Finance Eugene Cox were introduced by Robin Spencer-Arscott.

In the stocks: Business Insurance magazine publisher and editorial director Kathryn McIntyre and associate publisher and advertising director Martin Ross were caught in the stocks at the Bermuda booth.

BUSINESS BUC