Premier Alex Scott said yesterday that the Risk and Insurance Management Society annual conference was an event not to be missed ? and indeed that Government's participation was a must.

Mr. Scott spoke with following an hour-long walkabout of the exhibit hall at the RIMS conference, which is being held this week in San Diego.

"For stakeholders, it is important for them to see us here but that we, like them are here showing the flag."

Mr. Scott said the experience underscored for him Bermuda's leading reputation as an insurance market.

"I have been telling people that we are a leader, I have been saying that, but to see the size of the global industry, as you do here (at RIMS), you really see where Bermuda is."

The Premier's walk around the conference is an annual tradition dating back to the early 1980s when former Premier Sir John Swan made the first official walk round the conference exhibits.

Mr. Scott was joined on his tour of the exhibit hall by Finance Minister Paula Cox and others from Government and were accorded near celebrity status during the walkabout.

"As we walked around people were coming up to us.

"They wanted to meet the Premier of Bermuda and the (Finance) Minister of Bermuda. That was not about us but who we represent. Bermuda is a key player in the industry. You see that here, you feel that here," he said.

The delegation ? including Bermuda Monetary chairman Cheryl-Ann Lister, Supervisor of Insurance Jeremy Cox, Financial Secretary Donald Scott, Assistant Financial Secretary Wayne Brown, and Cabinet Secretary John Drinkwater ? made their first stop at the Bermuda booth but also made numerous courtesy calls at the stalls of Island-based companies as well as rival insurance domiciles. They were accompanied on the walk by RIMS president Lance Ewing and president elect Nancy Chambers.

Visits were made to the booths of Bermuda-based captive manager Quest, the Bank of Butterfield, the Bank of Bermuda (where Mr. Scott poised with HSBC executive and newly appointed chief operations officer Andy Gent), Turks and Caicos, the Caymans, and stopped for coffee with those at London market Lloyd's two-storey booth.

The group also stopped off to greet those at the booths of ACE and XL's US operations.

Yesterday marked Mr. Scott's first visit to the RIMS exhibits, having been named Premier after the Island's general election last July.

Speaking after the tour, the Premier said he walked every morning anyhow, and joked that his long walk around RIMS had actually been less arduous than his routine route as it was on carpet.

Finance Minister Paula Cox said it was her first visit to RIMS in an official capacity.

"I attended RIMS in New Orleans (in 2002) but as an observer," she said.

While walking the packed hall Mr. Scott remarked: "It certainly underscores what Bermuda has accomplished; to be such a big player in such a global industry."

He was also suitably impressed with Bermuda's efforts at the event ? with the Island's booth, arguably the most handsome in the hall with its replica of Hamilton's City Hall clock tower being manned each day during the prestigious week-long conference by tireless volunteers drawn from across the Island's insurance and reinsurance sector and organisations.

When Bermuda first began participating in RIMS years ago, the booth was outfitted with a Bermuda cottage but after the waiving of height restrictions for conference exhibitors, a replica of the Hamilton City Hall clock tower was commissioned and unveiled at the 2000 RIMS in San Francisco.

Now it has become the hallmark of the Bermuda booth at RIMS, with Island being one of 451 organisations and countries exhibiting at RIMS this year.

Mr. Scott said: "City Hall stands out above all the booths. It works, it works," he gloated, and took time out for a photo opportunity where he and others made symbolic gestures, by holding out a finger, indicating that Bermuda was number one.

Ms Cox, who is herself an insurance executive as a counsel for industry giant ACE Limited, had her own praise for the Island's efforts to make a mark at the pivotal industry event.

"The highlight has been my time spent at the Bermuda booth. All (participants) come from different parts of the industry. It is an impressive feat, and puts Bermuda on the map."

The Premier also hosted a gala Bermuda reception for industry executives close to the Island last night at one of the city's finer hotels, the Manchester Grand Hyatt.