The only Saudi company to be recognized at UAE Insurex 2006 Conference

Jeddah, 08 May 2006- BUPA Middle East, the leading health care insurer in Saudi Arabia won the e-business award during the 2006 Middle East Insurance Awards held last April 24, 2006 in Dubai, UAE. The award for BUPA Middle East was the first for a Saudi-based insurance company since the yearly event started. The Middle East Insurance Awards forms part of the 2006 Insurex Conference, the region's premier insurance conference endorsed by Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Deputy Ruler of Dubai and the UAE's Minister of Finance and Industry.

The Middle East Insurance Award is the only region-wide industry award open to all insurance companies in the GCC and the Middle East. This year as in the past, winners were selected by judges who are specialists in the insurance industry. The award for BUPA Middle East puts the spotlight on the high-growth medical insurance market in Saudi Arabia as it proves that the Saudi insurance industry is at par with other world class organizations.

Accepting the award, Wayne Close, Chief Operating Officer of BUPA Middle East, said, "This honor, the first ever for a Saudi insurance company, recognizes our commitment to provide superior customer service though better technology. For the past decade, BUPA Middle East has been a major driving force in the health insurance industry. We do that by harnessing the benefits of innovative technology. In 2005 alone, we have invested significant amount of capital to further improve our technological and e-business capabilities."

In 2005, BUPA Middle East implemented three major e-business projects that have directly impacted both internal efficiency and service delivery. These projects were delivered on time and on budget. The first one was CAESAR, a robust and flexible proprietary operating system which provided a significant service improvement for all BUPA stakeholders. The second project is e-Claims, a program which makes the processing of medical claims more efficient and cost effective for both BUPA Middle East and its vast network of hospitals and clinics within Saudi Arabia. The third project is e-Service, which includes the re-launching of the BUPA Middle East website @ www.bupa.com.sa giving its clients and hospitals network access to BUPA Middle East's secure system to transact business online and in real time. Equally important, BUPA members in most of the large private hospitals can now get their treatment pre-authorized electronically. This e-service is extremely efficient as it has more than halved on average pre-authorisation turnaround times.

Wayne Close also expressed his gratitude to the BUPA Middle East team for its continuous dedication to customer service, pointing out that, following a groundbreaking year for BUPA's e-business projects last year, 2006 will bring even more opportunities to enhance business efficiency and improve customer service through technological innovation.

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Abut BUPA Middle East
BUPA Middle East (soon to be known in the market as BUPA Arabia), is part of the BUPA Group, one of largest international private health insurance companies, with an annual turnover that exceeds USD 5.6 billion. BUPA serves more than 7.8 million members in over 180 counties and is the leading health insurance provider in the UK, Spain, and Hong Kong and is growing rapidly in Ireland, Australia, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Singapore and China.  Recently, BUPA International further expanded its reach with the acquisition of AMEDEX based in the United States and IHI.

The BUPA Group owns and manages 25 hospitals, most of them with ISO 9002 certification, 297 care homes and 34 health screening centres throughout the UK, 49 special care complexes, 40 children's nurseries and 220 approved health clubs. It employs more than 41,000 employees worldwide. The BUPA Group follows a long-term strategy of improving services and health care support by investing all its profits back into the business.

For more information please contact:
Ahmed Al Hassani
Media Manager
SACCS/TRACCS - Jeddah
Telephone: +966 2 663-2525
Fax: +966 2 660-1874
Email: ahmed@saccs.com

© Press Release 2006