The insurance industry is to Bermuda as air is to life, Premier Ewart Brown said after touring the RIMS Conference in New Orleans yesterday.

Speaking after visiting the Bermuda booth in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center with a delegation that included Finance Minister Paula Cox, Dr. Brown said it was clear from all he’d heard that Bermuda was regarded as a “major player”.

Having had an amicable meeting with a group of top Bermuda insurance executives on Monday, Dr. Brown said he aimed to forge stronger links between the Government and the industry.

“The insurance industry is to Bermuda as air is to life,” Dr. Brown said. “We are committed to it and it’s a pillar of our economy. This Government will do everything it can to provide the proper environment for business to thrive in Bermuda.

“We want a closer relationship. We want the insurance industry to not only be in Bermuda but also to be of Bermuda and by that I mean getting involved in everyday life.”

Work permit time limits have proved a thorny issue, with international business leaders saying the six-year rule will make it more difficult to attract the talent they need from overseas as the Island continues to expand as a financial centre.

Dr. Brown said: “The work permits policy was well thought out and it took the Government years to arrive at it. Once the emotions settle, it will be seen as something that is good for industry and good for Bermuda.”

He said he was not at liberty to give an update on permit talks between business leaders and Government, but added: “As a small island, we have a limited amount of real estate and space for cars and Bermuda cannot be all things to everybody. We have our limitations and we can’t offer unlimited access in every area.”

With the Island still attracting more business and numerous multi-storey office blocks going up around Hamilton, Dr. Brown said business needs had to be considered within the broader picture of sustainable development.

“The magic formula might be that as more businesses come in, others decide to move out and we might be able to keep a constant, steady environment,” Dr. Brown said. “We need to find the growth pattern that works for Bermuda.”

The Premier said he and Minister Cox had enjoyed a productive lunchtime meeting with members of the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers on Monday.

“I know they are busy people and so I did not waste their time,” Dr. Brown said. “We truly engaged. We talked about real issues and ways of adjusting to the times.

“I challenged them to go into the schools, teach some classes, go into the sports clubs, so that the industry can be perceived as being human and not just figures and big buildings.”

He said he believed international businesses were “overwhelmingly good corporate citizens”, which had the intention of giving more Bermudians opportunities at a higher level. And he expected that now words could be turned into more action.

While in New Orleans, the Premier said he had taken the chance to see some of the parts of the city that are still in a state of devastation after the visit of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

“My wife (Wanda) is from Louisiana and she has relatives whose home was destroyed,” Dr. Brown said. “We looked at the Ninth Ward and it’s heart-breaking and I cannot figure out why it’s taken so long for the area to be rehabilitated.”

Premier backs insurers