The high gold jewellery consumption in the UAE made an economic contribution of over $2 billion to the local economy last year, one of the highest in the world.
New data released by the World Gold Council (WGC) indicated that the economic impact of gold jewellery consumption in the country was estimated to be in the region of $2.5 billion, the fifth highest in the world after China, India, United States and Russia.
The figure is equivalent to 15 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the sovereign state of Georgia.
The October 2013 report, “The Direct Economic Impact of Gold,” which was carried out by economists at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and commissioned by the World Gold Council, is the first to look into how the precious metal contributes to the different economies in the world.
The UAE is one of the top 13 gold consuming countries, with its gold jewellery consumption amounting to 50 tonnes, the sixth highest globally as of 2012.
“The industry brings revenue to the economy through import and export activities and also creation of jobs. The industry’s strong performance has strengthened the UAE’s position in the global jewellery market,” Firoz Merchant, chairman of Pure Gold Jewellers, told Gulf News.
Merchant said they currently enjoy increasing demand from gold buyers as prices are now lower. And with greater demand comes more expansion plans.
Rolf Schneebeli, CEO of Gold Services AG, said that a high affinity for gold and jewellery, as expressed by a high local demand, is a key ingredient to a sustained development of the whole sector in the long run.
“Dubai and the whole UAE is a prime example for this development. It started off as a trading centre for mostly bullion in the early days and
expanded into jewellery retail and wholesale. This in turn was the basis for the expansion of the manufacturing sector, the refining sector and ultimately into the financial market link of gold through DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre),” Schneebeli told Gulf News.
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
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