Hannover Re, a reinsurance group, yesterday announced it willopen a branch office in the Kingdom of Bahrain with businessoperations slated to begin January 2008, according to thecompany.

“This concentration of our activities in the Arab world willenable our clients to profit from even greater market intimacy andaccess our full range of services from a single location,” saidWilhelm Zeller, chief executive officer of Hannover Re.

The Hannover R?ckversicherung AG, Bahrain Branch, willconcentrate exclusively on traditional reinsurance in the region,the company said.

The required license for operations was awarded to Hannover bythe Central Bank of Bahrain in late June, according to thecompany.

Hannover Re said it will be able to offer clients bothSharia-compliant and conventional solutions on a concentrated basisfrom one location.