Kuala Lumpur, 6 May 2010 – MNRB Holdings Berhad (MNRB) today awarded 37 scholarships to qualified Malaysians to pursue their education in various insurance related courses.

Held today at Bangunan Malaysian Re in Damansara Heights, Kuala Lumpur, the Scholarship Presentation Ceremony witnessed 8 recipients receiving awards for full-time studies in Actuarial Science, Risk Management and Insurance at both local and overseas institutions. In addition to this, 29 recipients who are currently working in the insurance and takaful industries received awards to pursue the “Diploma of the Malaysian Insurance Institute (DMII)” and “Associateship of the Malaysian Insurance Institute (AMII)” at the Malaysian Insurance Institute (MII).

Speaking at the ceremony, Encik Sharkawi Alis, Chairman of MNRB Group and also Chairman of the MNRB Scholarship Fund said, “Since 2007, the Fund had extended its scholarship to staff of the local insurance and takaful companies to pursue the DMII and AMII programmes and this is one of our contributions to the long term development of the Insurance and Takaful industries in Malaysia.” Also present at the ceremony were the parents of the students as well as the Directors and senior management of the MNRB Group.

The MNRB Scholarship Fund was set up under one of the MNRB Group’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes. True to the Group’s CSR policy, contribution towards community was focused on education or human capital development. The initial contribution made by MNRB in 1998 to the Fund was RM1 million, and over the years up to 31 March 2010, the total amount contributed had increased to RM5.1 million. To date, a total of 262 scholarships have been awarded by the Fund.

“This scholarship award reflects our unwavering commitment towards human capital development. We hope that this effort would produce more actuaries and insurance professionals for our local insurance industry”, Encik Sharkawi added.

MNRB Holdings Berhad is an investment holding company. Its wholly-owned subsidiaries are Malaysian Reinsurance Berhad (Malaysian Re), a general reinsurance company, Takaful Ikhlas Sdn. Bhd. (Takaful IKHLAS), an Islamic insurance provider, MNRB Retakaful Berhad (MRT), a general and family retakaful operator and Malaysian Re (Dubai) Ltd. (MRDL), a company incorporated in Dubai, UAE, to underwrite the reinsurance business for Malaysian Re and to service Malaysian Re’s business partners in the MENA regions.  Another subsidiary company is MMIP Services Sdn Bhd (MSSB), the manager of the Malaysian Motor Insurance Pool (MMIP), a pool established by the local insurance industry to provide insurance coverage for vehicle owners who have difficulty in obtaining motor insurance coverage. In addition, its associate companies are Motordata Research Consortium Sdn. Bhd. (MRC), a company that manages database for standard motor parts, prices and repairs, whilst Labuan Reinsurance (L) Ltd. (Labuan Re), an offshore reinsurance company incorporated in the Labuan International Offshore Financial Centre (IOFC), is an associate company of Malaysian Re. MNRB is listed on the Main Market of the Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad and its major shareholder is Amanah Raya Nominees (Tempatan) Sdn. Bhd. (Skim Amanah Saham Bumiputera).