MBR_ISSUE 54

Malta Business Review
COVER STORY INTERVIEW
A VALUE
CHAIN
DRIVEN
CULTURE
By Martin Vella
MBR interviews Felipe Navarro López de
Chicheri, CEO of MAPFRE Middlesea who
has been at the helm of the company for
the past four years to find out about his
experiences in Malta
MBR: What can you tell us about your
personal experience of living in Malta
over the past four years?
NLC: From a personal perspective our
stay in Malta is proving to be a great
experience for our family. The change of
culture and surrounding- it’s been for us
the opportunity to go out of our comfort
zone and our neighbourhood in Madrid. I
feel to have grown immensely as a family:
the children acquired a new language, we
all have a more international mind and our
areas of interest are broader since we are
much more open minded. Malta is a perfect
country to have such an experience: the
country is welcoming, the Maltese culture
is close to the Spanish since we are sharing
much of our Mediterranean history and,
finally, the climate is another good asset
(even if some winters are surprisingly
humid and colder than expected).
MBR: What drives you on a daily basis
and is the main motivating factor?
NLC: Being the CEO of MAPFRE in Malta
is a thrilling experience that is helping me
to grow as a person and as a professional.
The good days are much more usual that
the bad ones, and I still find the right
push every morning that makes me to
look forward for the daily challenges with
enthusiasm and optimism. Since I arrived,
to Malta, I had the goal to transform of our
company is all the different aspects: HR,
IT, Technical and financial performance.
We have the responsibility to manage
the biggest company in the local market
and we strive to set our standards in the
high. Our shareholders deserve the best
performance of this company but I don’t
want to forget the other stakeholders:
We were the first insurance
company to launch a new
channel of communication
utilizing artificial intelligence.
Employees that need to be treated with
dignity and respect as a key element of
the value chain; Providers with whom
the company has to have a balanced
relationship helping them to grow and
to raise the standards; Customers that
have to be in the center of our activity
and perceived as the most important
motivation; and finally the society in
general that needs to perceive MAPFRE in
Malta as a partner and good citizen that
contributes to the common wellbeing.
MBR: What would you consider to be the
most important achievements registered
at MAPFRE Middlesea over these years?
NLC: The Company strived tirelessly to
improve services and ensure the best
possible relationships with clients whilst
maintaining a healthy financial position and
good return to its shareholders. We were
the first insurance company to launch a
new channel of communication utilizing
artificial intelligence, which improved our
service to clients by offering more options
on how to reach us. We continued offering
innovative products and benefits to our
clients. The roadside and home emergency
assistance services are available 24/7 to our
clients. We are the only insurance company
on the island which rewards customers
through a loyalty programme, which offers
customers discounts from several outlets.
We continued working on our IT systems to
improve efficiency and delivery of services.
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